IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRI.APPLICATION NO.4198 OF 2008 CRI.APPLICATION NO.4198 OF 2008 CRI.APPLICATION NO.4198 OF 2008 Shri Balasaheb Sopan Shewale, Applicant Vs The State of Maharashtra, Respondent. Mr A.P.Mundargi, Senior Advocate with Mr Kuldeep S Patil, for the applicant. Mr Y.S.Shinde, APP, for the respondent. CORAM : D.B.BHOSALE,J. CORAM : D.B.BHOSALE,J. CORAM : D.B.BHOSALE,J. DATE : 16/12/2008 DATE : 16/12/2008 DATE : 16/12/2008 PC: PC: PC: 1. Heard Mr.Mundargi, learned senior counsel for the applicant and Mr.Shinde, learned APP, for the State. 2. The applicant is seeking bail in C.R.No.52 of 2008 of Saswad police station, Dist.Pune. The said crime has been registered against the applicant for having allegedly committed an offence punishable under section 302 of IPC. 3. It is the prosecution case that on 4.6.2008 at about 12.30 pm the applicant poured kerosene and set the deceased-Surekha on fire while she was in the car and committed her murder. The first person to reach the scene of offence was one Surekha Badade. She has stated that she saw a woman burning in the car and she was crying for help. She also saw one person moving around the car. She thereafter seems to have informed this incident to some other witnesses. The other witnesses, who reached the scene of offence after some time, are Yogesh Badade, Vimal Badade and Pandurang Budade. They were neither known to the deceased nor the deceased knew them. When they reached the scene of offence, they saw, the car was burning and the deceased was lying outside the car and saying what would happen to her children since she had incompletely burnt. Thereafter, two more witnesses reached the scene of offence, namely Raju Shewale and Ganesh Shewale, out of which Raju Shewale was called by the applicant. The applicant informed him that his car had caught fire due to some explosion. He was known to the deceased. They both seem to have accompanied the deceased in a vehicle which carried her to the hospital. Both of them have specifically stated that they did not ask the deceased as to how she was burnt. The deceased thereafter came in contact with her brother Somnath, who is the complainant in the present case and her father Baban and to both of them, on being specifically asked, she disclosed to them that it is the applicant, who burnt her by pouring kerosene. I have considered the statements of all these witnesses and I am, prima facie, satisfied that the applicant has committed the alleged offence of murder. In the circumstances, the application is rejected. . While passing this order I shall not be understood to have expressed any opinion on merits of the case and the trial Court shall deal with the case without being influenced by the observations made in this order. (D.B.BHOSALE, J.) (D.B.BHOSALE, J.) (D.B.BHOSALE, J.)