APPA. 1316-11 - 1 - VPH IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION No. 1316 OF 2011 IN CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 1043 OF 2007 Bhikaji Dattatraya Rajole ... Applicant Vs. The State of Maharashtra ... Respondent *** Mr. Murtuza Najmi a/w Anjali Waghmare, for the Applicant. Mr. J. P. Kharge, APP for the Respondent. *** CORAM : V. M. KANADE, & M. L. TAHALIYANI, JJ. DATE : DECEMBER 14, 2011 PC: 1. Heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the applicant and the learned APP appearing for the respondent-State. The applicant has been convicted by the trial court for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and is sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for life. He is also convicted for the offence punishable under Section 323 of the I.P.C. 2. The prosecution case is that the applicant was enraged when his step-mother told him to repay the debts of his creditors. The applicant abused the said deceased Nirmalabai; he caught hold of her APPA. 1316-11 - 2 - and dashed her head against the wall and poured kerosene on her person and set her ablaze. The deceased was treated in the private hospital for 25 days and thereafter she was discharged. Thereafter she was admitted in the government hospital. She, however, died on account of complications which had arisen thereafter. 3. The first application for bail filed by the applicant was rejected by the Division Bench [ Coram : F. I. Rebello & K. U. Chandiwal, JJ.] of this Court. Since both the learned Judges are not available, the matter has been placed before us. In the first application, the only point which was urged by the applicant was regarding the discrepancy in the dyeing declaration. The Court observed that dying declaration was properly recorded and therefore, did not grant bail to the applicant. 4. The learned counsel appearing for the applicant submitted that other points on merits were not canvassed before the earlier Bench. He submitted that he had filed this application on merits and is raising the points which were not raised before the earlier Bench. It was submitted that from the material which is there on record, the case of the applicant at the best would fall under Section 304, Part-II of the Indian Penal Code. It is submitted that the doctor who had performed post mortem had not stated that the injury which was caused as a result of kerosene being poured, was sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death of the deceased. It is also submitted that when she was discharged from the private hospital, the doctor had given opinion that condition of the deceased had APPA. 1316-11 - 3 - improved considerably and it was so mentioned in the discharge certificate. It is submitted that thereafter the deceased died due to some other complications, which is evident from the statement of the doctor who had performed the post mortem. It is, therefore, submitted that it was a fit case for the applicant to be released on bail. Reliance is placed in the case - Paraman, Appellant Vs. State of Kerala, Respondent [2004 Cri. L.J. 3379]. 5. Though this is a second application for bail, since the first application was decided on some other points, in our view, we are entitled to examine the submissions made on the other points which are raised on behalf of the applicant; secondly, the applicant is in jail since 2007 and has already undergone four years of sentence of imprisonment. 6. There is a substance in the submissions made by the learned counsel for the applicant. We have perused the notes of evidence. It is obvious that the medical opinion was not clear as to the intervening causes between the date of incident and the date of death and in these circumstances, it is possible that case of the applicant may fall under Section 304, Part-II of I. P. Code. That being the case, in our view, the applicant deserves to be released on bail, apart from the fact that the applicant has already undergone four years of sentence of imprisonment. 7. The applicant be released on bail on execution of P. R. bond in the sum of Rs.10,000/- with one or two sureties in the like APPA. 1316-11 - 4 - amount. He shall, however, report to the concerned police station once in two months. [M. L. TAHALIYANI, J.] [ V. M. KANADE, J.]