1 Cri.Appln. 3493.11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY, BENCH AT AURANGABAD CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 3493 OF 2011 in CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 416 OF 2011 Mohammad Yaser S/o Mohammad Yakub & another APPLICANTS VERSUS The State of Maharashtra RESPONDENT ..... Smt. Sadhana S. Jadhav, Advocate for the applicants Shri N.H. Borade, APP for the respondent /State. ..... CORAM : U.D. SALVI, J. DATED : 7 th September, 2011. PER COURT : 1. Heard. Perused application and the copies of evidence. 2. The applicants / accused, youths in late twenty’s moved this application seeking bail, in the appeal against the Judgment and Order of conviction for the offences punishable under Sections 363, 366-A of Indian Penal Code, 1860. Maximum sentence awarded is of five years and in addition they have been ordered to pay total fine of Rs. 3500/- each. 2 Cri.Appln. 3493.11 3. Sheetal a girl aged about seventeen years and six months was taken away from the lawful guardianship of her maternal uncle residing at Aurangabad to Pune. Thereafter, her whereabouts are not known. According to the prosecution, the accused induced Sheetal to move from Aurangabad to Pune, with an intention or with the knowledge that she would be likely to be forced for having illicit intercourse with another person namely Shreyas. 4. The prosecution examined PW-1-Prakash K. Garol / complainant, PW-2-Paras Hiran, PW-3-Pradeep Deshmukh, teacher in Saint Joseph English School and, PW-4 Yadusing Salunkhe to prove its case. The learned Trial Court considered the evidence and law on the subject, and convicted the accused placing reliance on the testimony of the witness PW-2- Paras Hiran. 5. The learned Advocate Smt. Jadhav for the applicants / Accused, submitted that the learned Trial Court ought not to have placed reliance on the prosecution witnesses particularly PW-1- Prakash K. Garol and PW-2-Paras Hiran as the circumstances appearing through their evidence indicate that Sheetal on her own, joined Shreyas, a person known to PW-1- Prakash K. Garol 3 Cri.Appln. 3493.11 possibly out of love affair, and there is no evidence regarding the inducement of Sheetal by any of the accused. It is for these reasons she argued that the police and the complainant- Prakash K. Garol, took casual approach to the disappearance of Sheetal and abandoned the search for her. 6. Countering his submissions the learned APP, submitted that the evidence of PW-2-Paras Hiran revealed the fact of Sheetal coming to the S.T. stand at Pune in the company of the accused and Shreyas paying Rs. 5500/- to the accused. These facts, according to him, reveal the involvement of the accused in the crime. 7. The learned Advocate Smt. Jadhav for the applicants / Accused, further submitted that in a case of such kind where the accused have been sentenced to short term imprisonment and the prospects of appeal coming up for hearing in the near future are dim, the applicants / accused deserve to be released on bail. Particularly for the fear that the appeal itself would become infructuous if the short term sentence is allowed to run during the pendency of the appeal. She relied on the Judgment of the Apex Court delivered in the case of ( Kiran Kumar V. State of M.P., 2001, AIR SCW 5130). She further pointed out that the applicants / 4 Cri.Appln. 3493.11 accused were on bail during the trial and they had not misused the liberties availed as a result of grant of bail before the Trial Court. 8. Considering the total spread of the facts, the sentences require to be suspended. Hence order. ORDER [i] The applicant Accused No. 1-Mohammad Yaser S/o Mohammad Yakub & Accused No. 2- Mahesh S/o Ramanna Gundelu, be released on bail on executing P.R. Bond of Rs. 20,000/- (Rs. Twenty thousand only) each with one more surety in the like amount, subject to the following conditions : a. Applicants / accused shall deposit the fine amount. b. Applicants / Accused shall not leave the limits of District Aurangabad and shall keep the police informed of their whereabouts from time to time. [ii] Criminal Application No. 3493/2011 stands disposed off accordingly. ( U.D. SALVI, J. ) SDM* September-11