SARIKA DATTATRAYA KALE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this appeal under Section 14A of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the appellant/accused is challenging the order dated 7 th September 2017 passed below Exhibit 79, thereby rejecting the application moved by the appellant/accused for releasing him on bail in Special Case No.39 of 2016 arising out of Crime No.222 of 2015 registered with Sadar Bazaar Police Station, Solapur, for offences punishable under Sections 408, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B reda with 34 of the Indian Penal Code as well as Section 13(1)(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and under Sections 3(2)(v) and 3(2)(vii) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

(2.) Heard the learned counsel appearing for the appellant/accused. He argued that the appellant/accused is in custody as an under trial prisoner for a period of about 4 years. Co-accused Aamir Mehboob Tamboli was released on bail by the learned Sessions Judge, Solapur, vide order dated 16th January 2016, and condition imposed on him to deposit an amount of Rs.50 lakh for his release has been relaxed by the learned Division Bench of this court vide order dated 26 th September 2017 in Criminal Appeal No.639 of 2017. The learned counsel for the appellant/accused submitted that pre-trial custodial detention of the appellant/accused after filing of the charge-sheet is unjustified and unwarranted. According to the learned counsel for the appellant/accused, by series of judgments, the Hon'ble Apex Court has laid down the law that ordinarily persons accused of any offence at the stage of trial should be enlarged on bail, as object of bail is primarily to secure the attendance of the accused at the trial. Grant of bail is the rule and refusal is the exception. To buttress this contention, he placed reliance on judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the matter of State of Kerala vs. Raneef AIR 2011 SC 340 and Surinder Singh vs. State of Punjab AIR 2005 SC 3669 . He also placed reliance on judgment of the learned Single Judge of this court in the matter of Chhagan Chandrakant Bhujbal vs. Assistant Director, Directorate of Enforcement and Others 2018(3) RCR (Crimnal) 125.

(3.) The learned APP opposed the application by contending that the offence is serious. She placed on record report submitted by the Assistant Police Commissioner, Crime Branch, Solapur, addressed to the Office of the Assistant Public Prosecutor, Mumbai.