- 1 - IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, AURANGABAD BENCH, AURANGABAD CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.1105 OF 2010 Shaikh Habib s/o Shaikh Ahmed ... APPLICANT VERSUS The State of Maharashtra & anr. ... RESPONDENTS ..... Shri M.K. Deshpande, Advocate for the applicant Mrs. Vaishali More, A.P.P. for the respondents ..... CORAM : SHRIHARI P. DAVARE, J. DATED : 1st April, 2010 PER COURT: 1. Heard Mr. M.K. Deshpande, learned counsel for the applicant as well as heard Mrs. Vaishali More, learned A.P.P. for the respondent. 2. This is an application preferred by the applicant seeking anticipatory bail apprehending his arrest under C.R. No.II-04/2010, registered at M.I.D.C. Cidco Police Station, Aurangabad for the offence punishable under Sections 5 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act. 3. It appears that, the complaint has been registered on the report lodged by the complainant namely Pramod Joshi, Supply Inspector on 25.2.2010, which discloses that as per directions of the - 2 - superiors and with a view to check the pollution, the vehicles were being checked on 25.2.2010 and during the said checking, the checking party stopped an autorickshaw bearing No. MH-12 2639, which was proceeding from Aurangabad towards Jalna and made enquiry with the said driver, who gave his name as Shaikh Habib s/o Shaikh Ahmed, i.e. the applicant herein and the diesel tank of the said autorickshaw was checked which found containing kerosene instead of diesel therein. Accordingly, 180 ml. of kerosene in three bottles from the said autorickshaw was seized under panchanama after sealing and lebeling the same, as well as after separating sample and sealing and labelling the said sample packets. 4. On this background, the learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant was neither owner nor driver of the said autorickshaw but he was simply an assistant, and submitted that he has been implicated in this case falsely. Learned counsel for the applicant also submitted that he would cooperate in the investigation and give his attendance as and when required and, therefore, prayed that this application for anticipatory bail be allowed. 5. The learned A.P.P. opposed the present application vehemently and submitted that although the autorickshaw bearing No.MH-12 2639 is seized, which found to be bearing Pune R.T.O. passing and, therefore, the matter has to be investigated thoroughly - 3 - which requires custodial interrogation of the applicant. Moreover, it is also canvassed that the R.C. Book and taxation book of the said autorickshaw are yet to be seized and, therefore also the custody of the applicant is necessary. 6. On perusal of the investigation papers and after considering the rival submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties, it is apparent from the contents of the application that the applicant was found in the above referred autorickshaw when he was halted for checking purpose and said autorickshaw found fuel of kerosene instead of diesel in the oil tank thereof and same has been seized under the panchanama as aforesaid and, therefore, the matter requires thorough investigation since using kerosene instead of diesel in autorickshaw is hazardous and injurious to the public at large and also causes pollution. Besides that, the custodial interrogation of the applicant is necessary to make the further progress of the investigation in proper perspective. 7. In the result, present application being sands merits, stands dismissed. (SHRIHARI P. DAVARE, J.) fmp/cri1105.10