1 appa940.10 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 940 of 2010 IN CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 542 of 2004 Noor Mohd. Abdul Gafoor ....Applicant Vs. The State of Maharashtra ....Respondent Mr. Abdul Kadar Milwala-advocate for the applicant. Mr. J.P. Yagnik-APP for the State. CORAM:- A.M.KHANWILKAR AND P.D.KODE, JJ. DATED:- OCTOBER 22, 2010. P.C. This is second bail Application preferred by the Applicant who has been convicted by the trial Court for offence punishable under Section 302, 452 read with 34 of IPC. By the present Application, however, the Applicant prays for release on bail on the ground that he has undergone substantial portion of the sentence period. In that, he has undergone almost over ten years of actual imprisonment in connection with the alleged offence. The fact that the Applicant has already suffered imprisonment of more than 10 years is reinforced 2 appa940.10 from the jail-sheet pertaining to the Applicant. It mentions that during the trial the Applicant was in custody as under trial prisoner between 15th July, 1992 to 14th May, 1996 i.e. four years, three months and twenty eight days. Thereafter, the Applicant was taken into custody in December 2003 after cancellation of his bail. As on 30th June, 2004 he had undergone additional sentence of five months and seventeen days. Since December 2003 the Applicant is continuously in jail. Thus understood, the Applicant has already undergone actual imprisonment of around ten years and eight months by now. The Appeal preferred by the Applicant pertains to the year 2004 whereas presently the Appeals of convicts in jail notified on the final hearing Board as per the present assignment pertain to year 2002. In that sense, it may take sometime for the Appeal preferred by the Applicant to mature for hearing. 2. In the circumstances, we are inclined to release the Applicant on bail by imposing strict conditions. 3. We are conscious of the fact that the first bail Application preferred by the Applicant has been rejected on merits, but we are considering request of the Applicant on the ground that he has already undergone substantial sentence period of over ten years and eight months by now. If the Applicant’s case was 3 appa940.10 to be considered for premature release on completion of actual fourteen years of imprisonment, hardly period of around three years would be left. Besides, in the event, the appeal was to succeed, the time spent by the Appellant in jail cannot be restituted to the Applicant. Moreover, we have also noticed that the Applicant’s bail was canceled during the pendency of the trial. However, the ground on which the same was canceled was that the Applicant alongwith other accused indulged in threatening the witnesses. To obviate repetition of such event, the Court thought it appropriate to cancel his bail Application during the trial as recording of evidence stage is passed long back. That ground which weighed with the trial Court for cancellation of bail is a non-existent ground. However, this aspect can be addressed by imposing strict conditions on the Applicant. 4. Accordingly, we grant bail to the Applicant on the following conditions:- i) The Applicant shall furnish bail bond in the sum of Rs. 25,000/- with one or two sureties in the like amount. ii) The Applicant shall not enter District Mumbai while on bail except to attend pending criminal case against him, if any, only on the relevant dates. 4 appa940.10 Iii) The Applicant shall report to the nearest police station where he would ordinarily reside once in two weeks on first and third Monday of every English calender month between 10.30 a..m. to 12.30 p.m. This condition will be relaxed if the criminal case coincides with first or third Monday, as the Applicant will be required to attend Court proceedings on those days. iv) The Applicant shall furnish his latest address and also give 48 hours advance intimation in writing to the concerned police station, in the event he intends to travel outside the Mira Road Area and shall furnish his travel plan as well as contact numbers, if any. v) The Applicant shall not indulge in any criminal activity during such time nor threaten the witnesses in the pending criminal cases during this period. 5. Application disposed of accordingly. (P.D.KODE, J.) (A.M.KHANWILKAR, J.)