BA-1094-11.sxw 1 Dixit IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO.1094 OF 2011 Santosh Vinayak Shringarpure & Ors. ... Applicants V/s. The State of Maharashtra, Thru' Pen Police Station, Dist. Raigad ... Respondent Mr. Shirish Gupte, Sr. Advocate, i/b. Mr. Amit Date and Ms. Archana Deshpande, for the Applicants. Mr. K.V. Saste, APP, for the Respondent. CORAM:- A.M. THIPSAY, J. DATED :- 22 ND JULY, 2011. P.C. : 1. Heard. 2. On the basis of the First Information Report lodged by an Auditor, investigation commenced and it was revealed that fraud of about Rs.600 crores had taken place in the Pen Co-operative Urban Bank. The Chairman, other Directors and Officers of the said Bank were arrested in the course of investigation. There are totally 41 accused in this case. Undoubtedly, it appears that, some fraudulent transactions had taken place in the said Bank. The alleged misappropriation is said to have taken place by disbursing loans, without proper authority and security, and by doing various financial irregularities. 3. The Applicants are the Directors of the said Bank. BA-1094-11.sxw 2 Dixit 4. Mr. Gupte, the learned Senior Counsel for the Applicants, contended that the Applicants have been involved only on the basis that they are the Directors of the said Bank. He submitted that no specific act has been attributed to the Applicants in the entire Charge Sheet. He drew my attention to the copy of the remand application dated 8th April, 2011, which has been annexed to the Bail Application, and the Say filed by the Investigating Agency in that regard. It appears that, at that time itself, the Investigating Agency took a stand that certain accused, which includes the present Applicants, had already been interrogated, and that they be remanded into judicial custody. It appears to be the case of the Investigating Agency that the Accused No.3-one Dharkar-the Chairman, and Accused No.24-one Purushottam Vasant Joshi-the C.E.O., are the main culprits in the matter, and that for tracing the amount, that has been misappropriated, their custodial detention and interrogation was necessary. 5. The learned APP for the Respondent concedes that there is no material to show that any of the present Applicants have themselves availed of any loans, or that their own relatives or friends have availed of loans, which have not been repaid. The learned APP states that it is not possible to point out the specific role played by any of the Applicants in the various wrong/fraudulent/ dishonest transactions that took place. It is also conceded that there is no material to show any actual financial gain made by any of the Applicants, by committing the alleged offences. BA-1094-11.sxw 3 Dixit 6. I have considered the matter. Charge-Sheet has already been filed. Mr. Gupte, the learned Senior Counsel for the Applicants, points out that the Applicants have been in custody since last more than 110 days. The basis for implicating the Applicants is only their position as Directors and the consequential inference about their being a party to the various wrongs, that can be attributed to the Board of Directors. Though drawing of such inference would be possible, depending on all the relevant circumstances, the fact remains that for the purposes of bail, their case can be treated differently from those, who are actually found to have committed various wrongs and gained financially therefrom. 7. It is also pointed out to me that some of the other accused, who were similarly situated, have been recently released on bail by the Additional Sessions Judge. 8. Mr. Saste, the learned APP for the Respondent, however, submits that further investigation into the matter is still going on and, therefore, the Applicants may be required to be available to the Investigating Agency for investigation/interrogation. This can be taken care of by imposing appropriate conditions upon the Applicants. 9. Considering all the relevant aspects of the matter and since it does not appear that the Applicants would not be available to face their trial, I am inclined to release them on bail, subject to certain conditions. BA-1094-11.sxw 4 Dixit 10. The Bail Application is allowed. 11. The Applicants are ordered to be released on bail in the sum of Rs.50,000/- each, with one surety in like amount, or two sureties in the sum of Rs.25,000/- each, on the condition that they shall make themselves available for investigation/interrogation as and when required by the Investigating Officer. [A.M. THIPSAY, J.]