NARENDRA CHOTALAL PATEL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Interim Application is filed for the following substantial reliefs :-

(2.) The learned counsel appearing for the Applicant submits that the Applicant is a citizen of United States of America and holds a passport issued by the United States of America bearing No.424630647. It is submitted that the family of the Applicant is in United States of America. It is also submitted that the Applicant desires to visit his ailing wife for a period of 2 months, who is presently residing in the United States of America, as the wife of Applicant has recently suffered a major cardiac arrest and was hospitalized at Morristown Memorial Hospital, NJ, and even though she has been discharged from the hospital, she is advised to visit the hospital once in a month. It is submitted that due to Covid-19 pandemic, the wife of the Applicant and considering her medical condition, she is not in a position to travel to India. The learned counsel for the Applicant submitted that the applicant and his wife both are senior citizens, and if the Applicant is permitted to travel to United States of America for a period of two months, he will furnish his undertaking that he will not misuse the liberty and shall furnish an itinerary and the address at which he will be residing at United States of America during the said period of two months. It is also submitted that pendency of the Appeal is not a ground to refuse the liberty to the Applicant to visit his ailing wife in United States of America. The learned counsel for the Applicant, therefore, prays that clause (ii) in paragraph 8 of the order dated 11/06/2019 may be modified to the extent that the Applicant be permitted to use his passport to travel to the United States of America for a period of two months.

(3.) The prayer of the Applicant is vehemently opposed by the learned APP appearing for the Respondent/State and the learned counsel appearing for the Respondent - CBI. It is submitted that after giving full opportunity of hearing to the Applicant, the Division Bench (Coram : B. P. Dharmadhikari and Sandeep K Shinde, JJ) by order dated 11/06/2019 was pleased to impose condition (ii) while releasing the Applicant on bail. It is also submitted that in case the Applicant is permitted to travel to United Sates of America, and if his Criminal Appeal is dismissed and sentence is confirmed, in that case, the Applicant may not be made available to undergo the remaining sentence. It is also submitted that the Applicant was a under trial prisoner, and he was required to be arrested and brought before the Trial Court for trial.