BA-1006-11.sxw 1 Dixit IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO.1006 OF 2011 Surekha Ramchandra Karanjule ... Applicant V/s. State of Maharashtra, Thru' Kalamboli Police Station, Kalamboli ... Respondent Mr. P.D. Dalvi for the Applicant. Mr. K.V. Saste, APP, for the Respondent. CORAM:- A.M. THIPSAY, J. DATED :- 21 ST JULY, 2011. P.C. : 1. Heard. 2. With the assistance of the learned APP for the Respondent and the learned Advocate for the Applicant, I have gone through the Charge-Sheet. 3. The Accused No.1-Ramchandra Karanjule is the Founder of one Trust Kalyani Mahila and Bal Kalyan Seva Sanstha, which runs a Shelter Home for mentally deficient children. The Applicant is his wife and she takes part in the running of the said Institution. When the members of the Co-ordination Committee for Child Protection had visited the Institution, they noticed several irregularities and illegalities in the Management thereof. On inquiries, it was revealed that the girls in the said Shelter Home were being physically and sexually abused. The First Information Report was lodged by the chair person of the Bal Kalyan Samiti, Dist. Raigad, on the basis of which a case in respect of offences punishable under BA-1006-11.sxw 2 Dixit Section 376 of the IPC read with Sections 109 IPC and 114 IPC was registered. After investigation, a Charge-Sheet came to be filed in respect of the aforesaid offences and also in respect of offences punishable under Sections 307 IPC, 377 IPC, 324 IPC, 323 IPC, 354 IPC, 467 IPC, 468 IPC, 471 IPC read with Sections 109 and 114 of the IPC, as also the offences punishable under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. 4. Undoubtedly, the offences are of a serious and heinous nature. However, the contention of the learned Advocate for the Applicant is that the Applicant is innocent. According to him, there is no material against her in the entire Charge- Sheet. 5. The Applicant and the other accused have been arrested on 4th March, 2011 and all of them are in custody. 6. Mr. Saste, the learned APP for the Respondent, on the other hand, submitted that the Applicant is a trustee of the Trust, which runs the Institute. According to him, therefore, it was the duty of the Applicant to take care of the girls who were in her custody. He further submits that since the Applicant has not performed that duty, she is criminally liable for all the acts committed by the other accused persons. 7. It is not possible to accept such a submission. Moreover, the Applicant does not appear to be a trustee of the said Institute. Undoubtedly, I am not inclined to give much importance to this aspect, in as much as, the Applicant is found to be, actually, working as a volunteer in the Institute and her husband, daughter and other relatives also are either trustees, or working there. It cannot be accepted that the Applicant has been falsely implicated in the case. BA-1006-11.sxw 3 Dixit 8. The fact, however, remains that the role attributed to the Applicant appears to be rather passive. The emphasis is on the aspect that the Applicant permitted the various wrongs to take place and did not protest or attempt to prevent the same. While this may be true to a certain extent, the statements of some of the victims, that were recorded with the help of the Psychiatrist, indicate that not only they did not have any grievance against the present Applicant, but some of them have positively certified her as ‘good’. 9. The Applicant is in custody since 4th March, 2011. The question is whether the Applicant needs to be detained further in custody. In the aforesaid background and in the absence of any specific overt act attributed to the Applicant, I am inclined to release her on bail. I am informed that she is a mother of two children. Her husband and daughter are already in custody. Releasing the Applicant on bail would not do any harm to the course of the trial, that is likely to take place. 10. The Bail Application is allowed. 11. The Applicant is ordered to be released on bail in the sum of Rs.50,000/-, with one surety in like amount. [A.M. THIPSAY, J.]