: 1 : APPA-1118-11 Dixit IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO.1118 OF 2011 IN CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.600 OF 2011 Rajdeo Basavan Rai ... Applicant V/s. The State of Maharashtra, Thru’ Ambad Police Station, Nashik ... Respondent Ms. Sushma Nair for the Applicant. Smt. V.R. Bhosale, APP, for the Respondent. CORAM:V.M. KANADE & A.M. THIPSAY, JJ. DATED :15 TH SEPTEMBER, 2011. P.C. : 1. Heard. 2. The Applicant has been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The prosecution case, in brief, is that the Applicant’s son Sanoj Rai was working as a ‘servant’ with Nirmal Kalani. It is alleged that the Applicant and his other son met the absconding accused Sanoj Rai and demanded money which the Applicant had spent on the marriage of the absconding accused Sanoj Rai. It is further alleged that the Applicant told Sanoj Rai to get that money from his : 2 : APPA-1118-11 employer by hook or crook. It is alleged that Sanoj Rai promised the Applicant and other co-accused that he would get the money from his employer. 3. It is the prosecution case that Sanoj Rai and the accused committed murder of Khushabu Kalani and committed theft of cash and jewellery to the tune of Rs.13 lacs to Rs.14 lacs from the bed room of the deceased. It is submitted that there is no material on record to connect the Applicant with the commission of the offence and the Applicant was arrested from his residence at Bihar. It is submitted that there is no recovery made at the instance of the present Applicant. 4. We have perused the impugned Judgment and Order. It appears that the only material on the basis of which the present Applicant has been convicted is the evidence of Dhrupdeo Nandkumar Pande (PW-1 : the Security Officer of Company of Nirmal Kalani), and Yogesh Suresh Vaidya (PW-2 : the Driver of Nirmal Kalani), who have stated that they had seen the Applicant six days prior to the incident in the compound of the deceased along with the absconding accused Sanoj Rai. In our view, since this is the only material on record, the Applicant is entitled to be released on bail. 5. The learned APP appearing on behalf of the Respondent-State has submitted that the Applicant does not have a fixed place of residence in the State of Maharashtra and, therefore, he is likely to be absconding, if he is released on bail. In our view, that cannot be the ground for rejecting the application. : 3 : APPA-1118-11 6. The Applicant, therefore, is directed to 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 amount. The Applicant shall, however, report to the concerned Police Station at Nasik once in six months. 7. The Criminal Application is allowed and is disposed of. (A.M. THIPSAY, J.) (V.M. KANADE, J.)