DINKAR SHANKAR DESHMUKH Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Mihir Desai, learned Senior Counsel for the applicants and Mr. Tanveer Khan, Mr. Bapu Holambe-Patil and Mr. Balraj Kulkarni, learned APPs for the respondent-State.

(2.) The applicants in these applications are persons who were working as sub-Registrars, at the relevant time, in the office of the Registrar at Junnar, Dist. Pune. They have been arraigned as accused in connection with FIR No. 0298 of 2024 dtd. 13/9/2024 registered at Junnar Police Station, Dist. Pune, for offences under Ss. 409, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC). They are apprehending arrest in connection with the said FIR and hence, they have approached this Court by way of these applications.

(3.) The FIR has been registered on the statement of the Range Forest Officer of Junnar, Dist. Pune. The allegation in the said statement against the accused persons, in brief, is that forest land, which could not have been dealt with and made subject matter of sale deeds, was sold by some of the accused persons to purchasers, who are also made accused persons and that such transactions were registered, during the time when the applicants were subRegistrars in the said office. In other words, the allegation appears to be that transactions were registered that were expressly prohibited by law and in facilitating registration of such documents/transactions, the applicants also committed the offences registered in the present case.