MP 1 BA1624_11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO.1624 OF 2011 Santosh Dattatraya Gondhali ... Applicant Versus The State of Maharashtra ... Respondent Mr. Venkatesh A. Shastry, Advocate for the Applicant. Mr. Y.M.Nakhwa, APP for the Respondent State. CORAM : J. H. BHATIA, J. DATE : 28TH NOVEMBER 2011 P. C. : The applicant seeks to be released on bail in crime No.171 of 2008 registered at Shil Daighar Police Station, District Thane for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 307, 143, 147, 148, 149, 323, 504, 506, 325 and 324 of the Indian Penal Code as also under the provisions of Arms Act. 2. As per the F.I.R. lodged by one Ramesh Maruti Gondhali, on account of grazing of cattle, on 01.07.2008, one Sanjay Gondhali and his companions had beaten Gurunath and Hiraman Gondhali, about which a report was lodged with the police and the accused were arrested. They were also granted bail. However, in view of the arrest, the said Sanjay Gondhali and his companions were angry. On 29.10.2008, at about 4.00 p.m., deceased Gurunath, his brother Bhagwan and some others were playing cricket on the ground. At that time, Sanjay Gondhali and his companions came to the field to play cricket but Gurunath told them that they could play after their game was over. Due to this, Sanjay and others got angry, and within a short time, Sanjay Gondhali along with 16 named and 15 to 20 unnamed persons came with the swords and other weapons and assaulted Gurunath due to which he suffered several injuries and MP 2 BA1624_11 died. His brother Bhagwan had also suffered certain injuries. The F.I.R. was lodged by Ramesh Gondhali. In the F.I.R, name of the present applicant Santosh Gondhali was not shown as one of the assailants. However, in the supplementary statement recorded on the next date, the said Ramesh Gondhali gave names of some more persons who were present along with Sanjay Gondhali and one of them was shown to be the present applicant Santosh Gondhali. It is clear that Ramesh Gondhali was not aware about the names of some persons including the present applicant when he had lodged the F.I.R. It appears that additional names, shown in the supplementary statement, were given to him by somebody else. The statement of one Bhagwan Gondhali was recorded on 09.11.2008 and he had shown the presence of the present applicant among the culprits. He did not attribute any specific role to the present applicant. He has given names of the persons who had assaulted him with weapons, but the applicant is not one of them. 3. The learned APP pointed out that the present applicant had previously filed two applications viz. application Nos.5390 of 2010 and 4706 of 2009, which were withdrawn. The learned Counsel for the applicant contends that both these applications were withdrawn by the then Advocates of the applicant merely because none was present from the family of the applicant to instruct the Advocate, and therefore, the applications were not argued on merits. The learned Counsel for the applicant pointed out that the accused persons whose names are not shown in the F.I.R. have been granted bail. Even though the name of the present applicant was shown in the supplementary statement of the first informant as also in the statement of Bhagwan Gondhali which was recorded long after the incident, no specific role was attributed to him. The applicant is in jail for last three years and it appears that there has been no progress in the trial of the case. MP 3 BA1624_11 4. Therefore, the applicant be released on his executing P.R. of Rs.25,000/- with one surety in like amount with condition that he shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence. (J. H. BHATIA, J)