* 1 * BA-1828-2011 12 Dec, 2011 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1828 OF 2011 Osarumen Omaruyi and anr. ...Applicant : V/S. : State of Maharashtra through Airport Police Station, Mumbai ....Respondent * * * * Mr. Najmi Murtuza and Mr. Nishant V. Gupta i/by. V.R. Gupta and Associates, Advocate for the applicant. Ms. A.T. Jhaveri, APP for the respondent-State. * * * * CORAM :- SMT. R.P. SONDURBALDOTA, J. 12 DECEMBER, 2011. P.C. :- 1. This application for bail is by 8 persons who claim to belong to South African country, Nigeria. Three applicants out of these have overstayed in India with their visa already expired. Three of them do not even hold passports and two of them i.e. applicants no.1 and 2 have visa valid upto 22nd February, 2012 and 4th May, 2012 respectively. All the applicants have been arrested in C.R. No. 55 of 2011 by Airport Police Station originally filed for the offence punishable under Section 489(C)(D) Indian Penal Code and * 2 * BA-1828-2011 12 Dec, 2011 thereafter on the offence punishable under Sections 468, 471 read with 34 Indian Penal Code and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 2004. The police have recovered 6 laptops, 8 mobiles with simcards taken either on fake documents or in the name of non-existent persons, 4 mobiles without simcards, 1 pendrive and 3 internet devices. All the applicants and co- accused, Gregory Oshoke Olomekhor were staying together at Bangalore. On 26th September, 2011 at about 5.15 a.m. Gregory was boarding Flight No.6 E-421 of Indigo Airlines from Mumbai to Bangalore. The screening machine at the airport indicated iron box in the baggage of Gregory. He was therefore questioned and upon checking of his baggage, an iron box containing 50 bundles of fake American Dollars of 100 denomination were found. He was also carrying a bottle containing a chemical by name Jargobazim Automatic ‘ Solution’. Therefore, a complaint came to be filed for the offence punishable under Section 489(C) and (D) Indian Penal Code. During the course of investigation, the police stumbled upon the applicants herein and their illegal residence in the country. The police also suspect that all the applicants alongwith Gregory are in the activity of money laundering by floating illegal lottery and thereby duping several innocent persons. 2. Mr. Murtuza, the learned counsel for the applicants, submits that there is nothing to connect the applicants herein to the offence punishable under * 3 * BA-1828-2011 12 Dec, 2011 Section 489(C)(D) Indian Penal Code because none of the applicant can be said to be in possession of the counterfeit notes. He also complaints that there is misjoinder of the complaints. Therefore, the applicants deserve to be released on bail. The learned APP strongly opposes the application, submitting that since all the applicants, except two, do not even have valid documents to be in the country, if they are released on bail, they will not be available for either further investigation or for trial. The complaint is still under investigation. 3. Considering the facts of the case that the applicants do not even hold valid documents to be in the country, there is substance in the apprehension expressed by the learned APP. Therefore, the applicants cannot be released on bail. Hence, the Bail Application is dismissed. [SMT. R.P. SONDURBALDOTA, J]