IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 4486 OF 2008 CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 4486 OF 2008 CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 4486 OF 2008 1. Dnyaneshwar Chandrashekhar Agashe, 2. Ashutosh Dnyaneshwar Agashe ...Applicants vs. The State of Maharashtra ...Respondent Mr.Shirish Gupte, Senior Counsel with Mr.S.V. Kotwal for the Applicants. Mr.D.P. Adsule, APP for the State. CORAM : V.M. KANADE, J. CORAM : V.M. KANADE, J. CORAM : V.M. KANADE, J. DATED : JANUARY 30, 2009 DATED : JANUARY 30, 2009 DATED : JANUARY 30, 2009 P.C. :- P.C. :- P.C. :- 1. Heard Shri Gupte, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the applicants and the learned APP for the State. 2. A complaint has been filed against the present applicants for the offences punishable under Sections 406, 409, 420 read with 34 of the IPC alleging that the applicants and other Directors of the Bank had given loans to their close relatives, friends without taking appropriate security before sanctioning the loan and therefore, committed offence punishable under Sections 406, 409 and 420 of the IPC. The applicants were - 2 - arrested on 22.11.2008 and they are in custody since last two months. However, applicant no.1 Dnyaneshwar Chandrashekhar Agashe expired during the pendency of this application. Hence, the name of applicant no.1 is deleted. Charge-sheet has not yet been filed. According to the prosecution, the loans which were disbursed by the bank and which are without any security is to the tune of about Rs.40 crores. Pursuant to the directions given by this court by order dated 18th December, 2008, the applicant has filed an affidavit disclosing the list of his assets both moveable and immovable properties. The affidavit of other relatives also has been filed by him. He has also given an undertaking that during the pendency of the trial, he shall not dispose of the said assets or create any third party rights. The legal heirs of Dnyaneshwar Agashe have filed an affidavit that they will not make any claim in respect of the properties which were owned by Dnyaneshwar Agashe. They shall also not create any third party rights in respect of the said property 3. It is submitted by Shri Gupte, the learned - 3 - Senior Counsel for the applicant that in view of the affidavit filed by the applicant, out of Rs.40 crores which have been disbursed by the bank, almost Rs.35 crores have been secured. It is further submitted that an amount of Rs.3 crores was paid by the applicant in respect of BMSS shares which are mortgaged to the bank and within three months, an additional amount of Rs.3 crores would be paid by the applicant in respect of BMSS shares. An affidavit-in-reply has been filed by Shri Narayan R. Khaire, Police Inspector attached to Economic Offences Wing, Crime Branch, Pune. He has stated in para 15 that the agricultural land at Pandharpur has been wrongly valued by the applicant at Rs.30 lakhs and the actual valuation was Rs.4,75,000/-. It is further stated that a land at Bhosari has been valued at Rs.20 lakhs and the said valuation is incorrect. Further it is stated that the bungalow of the applicant has been valued at Rs.8,20,60,000/-, it is, however, mortgaged with the HDFC Bank. It is further stated that 68,440 equity shares of Brihan Maharashtra Sugar Syndicate Ltd. are mortgaged with Suvarna Sahakari Bank Ltd. - 4 - 4. Shri Gupte, the learned Senior Counsel for the applicant submitted that so far as the bungalow of the applicant is concerned which is valued at Rs.8,20,60,000/- and mortgaged with HDFC Bank, it is only to the tune of Rs.40 lakhs which is in the process of being repaid and the said property is also mortgaged with Suvarna Sahakari Bank. Further it is stated that in respect of an agricultural land at Pandharpur, according to the Investigating Officer, land was purchased in 2004 for Rs.4,75,000/- and though there were some differences of opinion regarding valuation, the fact that the applicant owns that property has not been disclosed. He further submitted that the equity shares of BMSS Limited are already mortgaged with Suvarna Sahakari Bank and payment is being made at the rate of Rs.3 crores after every three months. 5. Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, in my view, the continued detention of the applicant is not necessary. In any event, the period of 60 days is already over. Though - 5 - repeatedly the learned APP was asked whether the Investigating Officer would be in a position to complete the investigation in the remaining 30 days, he was unable to point out whether the said investigation would be completed. Though the allegation against the applicant is that loans were disbursed without taking an adequate security and the total value of the loans which are disbursed is to the tune of Rs.41 crores, however, in view of the affidavit filed by the applicant, more than Rs.35 crores has been secured. A joint affidavit has been filed by the heirs of Dnyaneshwar Agashe who is father of the applicant no.2 in which they have stated that all the assets of Agashe family have been offered to provide security loan, in question. He further stated the family members and well-wishers have offered property of Rs.1 crore as security and also are offering to pay Rs.2 crores in any of the loans as and when required. An affidavit has been filed by the applicant herein dated 24th January, in which he has stated that the details of his property have been already published by him in the affidavit dated 4th January, 2009 and in para 3, he has stated that the total security which he - 6 - is going to offer is to the tune of Rs.34.95 crores. Taking into consideration the total security offered by the applicant and the family members is more than Rs.30 crores, continued detention of the applicant is no longer necessary. The applicant, therefore, deserves to be released on bail. 6. The applicant be released on bail in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- with one or two sureties in the like amount. The applicant shall not leave the city of Bombay without seeking permission of the court. The applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by the Investigating Officer as and when called. The applicant shall report to Crime Branch, Poona City, once in a week on every Thursday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and thereafter, as and when required. Undertaking given by the applicant and his family members is accepted. The applicant thereafter shall report once in a month till the disposal of the trial. 7. The application is disposed of. - 7 - (V.M. KANADE, J.) (V.M. KANADE, J.) (V.M. KANADE, J.)