MP 1 BA1472_11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.1472 OF 2011 Rajendra Shrikisan Talekar ... Applicant Versus The State of Maharashtra ... Respondent Mr. Nitin Pradha, Senior Counsel i/b. Mr. Rohan Samant, Advocate for the Applicant. Smt. R. V. Newton, APP for the Respondent State. CORAM : J. H. BHATIA, J. DATE : 11TH NOVEMBER 2011 P. C. : This application for bail in Crime No.76 of 2010 registered with Mohol Police Station, District Solapur is pending for last two months. The matter was adjourned five times at the request of the the Public Prosecutor. However, the learned APP informs that in spite of instructions given to the concerned Investigating Officer, A.P.I. Lotlikar, he is not present nor he has given any instructions. It shows that the said A.P.I. Lotlikar is not interested in giving the proper instructions to the Public Prosecutor in contesting this bail application. 2. Prosecution case, in brief, is that on 20.11.2010 at 3.00 a.m., a luxury bus proceeding from Hyderabad towards Bombay reached near Shetphal. At that spot, the driver had slowed down the bus. At that time, a jeep bearing number MH-22-D-2226 came in high speed from Kurduwadi side and dashed against the right side of the bus causing damage to the bus. At the same time, the jeep itself was also damaged and stopped. Beside the driver, there was one more person in the jeep. Both of them ran away leaving the jeep at the spot. Police was informed and panchnama was prepared. During the panchnama, six gunny bags containing Ganja were found in the said jeep. Total weight of Ganja was found to be 180 kgs. Therefore, besides the offences under Section MP 2 BA1472_11 279 of the Indian Penal Code, the offence under Section 20(b) of the N.D.P.S. Act was also registered. The driver of the jeep is said to be absconding and he is still not arrested. The present applicant, who is a registered owner of the jeep, was arrested and he seeks to be released on bail. According to him, the vehicle was being plied on hire and it was taken away by the driver and he does not know if any contraband was loaded in the jeep. According to the prosecution, the applicant was aware about the gunny bags containing ganja and he himself was present while the said gunny bags were loaded in the jeep for the purpose of transportation from Naldurg to Pandharpur. Prosecution case is that after the incident, the present applicant had managed to lodge the false report of theft of his vehicle with Georai Police Station by paying bribe of Rs.20,000/- to a police officer namely R.V.Kharde It is not clear what action was taken against the said P.S.I. Kharde who had allegedly accepted the bribe of Rs.20,000/- and registered a false case of theft of jeep. 3. The whole case of the prosecution, as far as the applicant is concerned, is based on the confessional statement of the accused before the police that six gunny bags containing ganja were loaded with his permission at Naldurg. The confessional statement before the police is not admissible in evidence. According to the prosecution, at the time of the accident, besides the driver, there was one more person in the jeep and both had run away. Even though the present applicant was arrested on 25.04.2011, there is nothing to show that the test identification parade was held to verify whether the applicant was present in the jeep at the time of the incident. As stated earlier, the investigating officer Lotlikar has not bothered to appear and give instructions to the Public Prosecutor in the matter. 4. In view of the above facts and circumstances, the applicant be released on his executing P.R. of Rs.50,000/- with one surety in like amount with condition that he shall attend Mohol Police Station on 1st and 15th day of every MP 3 BA1472_11 month between 4.00 to 6.00 p.m. till the end of the trial and shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence. The learned APP shall forward a copy of this order to the Superintendent of Police, Solapur (Rural) to take appropriate action against A.P.I. Lotlikar for failing to discharge his duties properly. (J. H. BHATIA, J)