IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 1441/2008 Lala @ Lalu Ajabrao Eknath vs. State of Maharashtra -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders or directions Court's or Judge's orders and Registrar's orders. CORAM : S.R.DONGAONKAR, J DATED : 5 th May, 2008. Heard Shri R.M.Patwardhan, Advocate, for the applicant and Shri Parihar, A.P.P. for respondent State. As regard compliance of the order dated 2/5/2008 i.e. regarding making a statement as to whether statement of Mukesh was recorded during the investigation, it is submitted by the learned A.P.P. that the said statement was not recorded because he was not traceable. As against this, learned counsel for the applicant states that the statement of Mukesh was recorded, but it was not favourable to the prosecution and therefore, the same is not finding place in the record. It appears from the record that the deceased had died due to drowning in the well. It is the case of the prosecution that the applicant had pushed the deceased Mala in the well and the said incident was witnessed by the brother of the deceased who had come to the village of deceased Mala i.e. Balya. It was the case of the prosecution that the said Balya was accompanied by that Mukesh, whose statement appears to be not recorded as per the say of the prosecution. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the applicant that one vessel was also found in the well along with the deceased. Therefore, possibility of the accidental death cannot be overruled. It is necessary to note that as the said Mukesh was the friend of Balya, there should have been no difficulty for the prosecution to trace out the said Mukesh, who had allegedly seen the deceased being pushed by the applicant. It is further necessary to note that the incident had occurred on 21.2.2008 at about 8.30 a.m. in the morning. The report is lodged in the evening . Had the said Balya seen the applicant pushing the deceased in the well, he would have definitely raised hue & cry, which does not appear to be the fact in the present case. Although these observations are in prima facie view of the matter, that would make the applicant entitled for bail considering the totality of the circumstances. In these circumstances, applicant be released on bail on furnishing surety and P.R.Bond of Rs. 25,000/- subject to conditions that he shall not directly or indirectly tamper with the prosecution evidence and shall report at Police Station Kalmeshwar on every Sunday between 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. until further orders. Bail in trial Court. Hamdast granted. JUDGE Rvj