SHYAMSUNDAR RADHYESHAM AGARWAL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The applicant, who is arrayed as accused No. 3, has moved this application seeking pre-arrest protection under Sec. 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. The relief is sought in connection with Crime Register No. 559 of 2025 registered at Thane Nagar Police Station for offences under Ss. 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The FIR is lodged by one Balwant Kashinath Patil.

(2.) The complainant filed a report under Sec. 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita against the present applicant. His case is that his family depends on cultivation of ancestral land situated at Mouje Navghar, Bhayandar, Thane. The land bears old Survey No. 280 and new Survey No. 91. It admeasures 18,490 square meters and was recorded in 1948 as protected tenancy of his great-grandfather, Vitthal Shinwar Patil.

(3.) The complainant narrates that Vitthal left behind five heirs. They were Ganeswar Vitthal Patil, Krishnabai Kashinath Patil, Mathurabai Jayaram Gharat, Bhagyabai Mukund Gawde and Bayabai Kakaji Bhoir. Their names were entered as protected tenants after Vitthal's demise. Upon their deaths, the names of their heirs were mutated. It is alleged that several heirs executed a Power of Attorney dtd. 10/9/2003 in favour of Harshad Dinanath Gawde and Dinanath Sadashiv Gawde. The document was not registered. It is alleged to have authorized the attorneys to sell the land, decide the price, manage revenue affairs and obtain necessary permissions with the consent of heirs who were unable to regularly visit government offices.