1 ABA-356.11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY APPELLATE SIDE CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.356 OF 2011 Umesh Sitaram Goel .... Applicant Vs. State of Maharashtra & Anr. .... Respondents S/Shri Shirish Gupte, Senior Counsel with Ashok Mundargi, Senior Counsel with Karan Bhosale, Sabhash Jadhav & Shailesh Keole i/b ALMT Legal for the Applicant. Ms Alpa T. Javeri, APP, for the State. CORAM: R.C. CHAVAN, J. DATED: APRIL 26, 2011 P.C: 1. This is an application for anticipatory bail by a builder who is alleged to have been involved in a conspiracy to assault one Arvind Kaushal and his brother Lalit Kaushal on 8-4-2011 at about 7:45 p.m.. The allegation is that Kaushal had applied under the Right to Information Act to the municipal authorities for information in respect of the construction activities of the applicant's company named "Goel Raisoni Associates". The first informant had in fact 2 ABA-356.11 purchased a flat in Ganga Constella Complex in the year 2008 and had signed an acknowledgement that he had no grievance about the flat. It seems that thereafter in the year 2011 he started having grievances about the construction activities of the company over the open spaces or greenery which was around the complex, as also some other grievances. It is the allegation of the defence that the first informant wanted to extort a sum of Rs.21 lakhs saying that he would cause loss to the company by using the information which he was to obtain. The first informant had in fact given a notice on 5-4-2011 asking for compensation of Rs.21 lakhs for deficiencies in respect of the flat which he had purchased. It is the defence allegation that on 7-4-2011 the first informant had met one Ganesh Chonde, an employee of the applicant, in the applicant's office and had demanded the sum of Rs.21 lakhs. According to the case sough to be built up by the I.O., the applicant is alleged to have told Ganesh Chonde to see that the first informant is silenced for a few months. Ganesh Chonde contacted assailants who demanded a sum of Rs.50,000/-. This amount was paid by the applicant to Ganesh Chonde in the morning of 8-4-2011 and he passed on that amount to the assailants thereafter. In 3 ABA-356.11 the evening of 8-4-2011 Ganesh Chonde is supposed to have called up the first informant after having arranged for the other accused persons to beat up the first informant. The first informant was beaten up when he was about to board his car. Before that the first informant is alleged to have rang up the police control room since he suspected some foul play. The first informant suffered, amongst others, a fracture to his nasal bone. The investigation is still in progress. A sum of Rs.25,000/- has been recovered from one of the miscreants named Altaf. Ganesh Chonde has also been arrested. A small amount has also been recovered from another miscreant Nasim, who is arrested. Considering the nature of the allegations made and the evidence collected so far, including that of the calls made by Ganesh Chonde to the applicant as well as to the miscreants who had been hired to hit the first informant, it cannot be said that the applicant is entitled to anticipatory bail. The application is, therefore, rejected. (R.C. CHAVAN, J.)