1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 999 OF 2009 Rajeev Atmaram Prabhu ..... Applicant V/s The State of Maharashtra ..... Respondent. Mr. Madhav Jamdar for the applicant. Mr. D.P. Adsule, APP for the State. ALONGWITH CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 1000 OF 2009 1. Leena Atmaram Prabhu 2. Purnima Atmaram Prabhu 3. Sonia Atmaram Prabhu ..... Applicants. V/s The State of Maharashtra ...... Respondent. Mr. Madhav Jamdar for the applicant. Mr. D.P. Adsule, APP for the State. CORAM : V.M. KANADE, J. DATE : 3rd April , 2009 P.C:- 1. Heard the learned Counsel for the applicant and the learned APP for the State. 2 2. Applicant in Criminal Application No.999 of 2009 and applicants in Criminal Application No.1000 of 2009 are son and daughters of one Atmaram Prabhu respectively. They claim to be the tenants in respect of certain premises since last 50 years. It is their case that they are residing in the said premises and paying municipal taxes and other taxes. The rent was being paid regularly to the earlier owner. Thereafter, there was some dispute regarding the actual ownership of the land and building. One Mr Shivaji Mankar purchased the said property. His real brother Mr. Deepak Mankar is a Corporator of Pune Municipal Corporation. It is alleged that on 29/12/2008, when the lady members were in the house, a group of 40 to 50 persons entered the house and started ransacking the house. The applicant – Rajeev Prabhu was informed on mobile by his sisters and he came to the spot and, thereafter, all these persons who had trespassed the said property attacked him with spade, iron rods and sticks, as a result of which he was injured. Police were informed on phone at 11.15 a.m. They came to the spot. However, according to the applicants, they did not take any immediate action and, after some time, they arrested two persons who were taken in the police van. Rajeev Prabhu was taken to Hardikar Hospital and he was admitted in the said hospital at 11.50 a.m and he was taken to ICU of the said hospital since he was grievously injured. The written complaint of the applicant's sister Purnima Prabhu was registered by the Police at 10.35 p.m. 3 3. In the meantime, it appears that one complaint was lodged against Rajeev Prabhu, the applicant in Criminal Application No.999 of 2009 and his three sisters who are applicants in Criminal Application No.1000 of 2009 at 1.30 p.m on 29/12/2008, alleging that the applicant Rajiv assaulted one Nilesh Pachange with a sharp instrument and inflicted injury on his stomach and his three sisters also assaulted him. It is the case of the applicants that the said complaint is false and fabricated complaint. It is lodged only in order to falsely implicate the present applicants. It is submitted that the applicant Rajeev was already in ICU of the Hardikar Hospital and could not have assaulted the said complainant Nilesh Pachange at the time mentioned in the said complaint. It is submitted that the new owner of the said building viz. Shivaji Mankar is a highly influential person. His real brother Deepak Mankar is a Corporator and he is closely associated with Suresh Kalmadi, the Member of Parliament from Pune. It is submitted that, in fact, the complainant who filed this false case against the present applicants and the owner of the said property had taken law into their own hands and tried to illegally evict the applicants herein and had assaulted the applicant Rajeev Prabhu and as a result of which he was admitted in the hospital and in order to pressurize these applicants, a false complaint has been filed. An affidavit in reply has been filed by Sandeep Bhaurao Ghorpade, Police Sub-Inspector attached to Shivaji Nagar Police Station, Pune who is an Investigating Officer. In this affidavit, no reply has been given to the averments and 4 allegations which are made by the applicants in their applications. The Sub-Inspector has also not produced the injury certificate of the said complainant - Nilesh Pachange. The said Investigating Officer is also not present today when the matter was called out. 4. In my view, all these facts clearly show that the complaint which is filed against the present applicants, to say the least, is a false complaint. It is not disputed by the police that the applicants have been staying in the said premises since last 50 years. It appears that an attempt was made by the new owner to evict these lawful tenants from their premises by using force and about 40 to 50 persons had entered that house. Quite surprisingly, no complaint has been lodged against the new owner at whose instance these persons had come to evict the present applicants. The medical record shows that Rajeev Prabhu was in the ICU of Hardikar Hospital when the alleged assault by him has taken place against Mr. Pachange. 5. Section 438 has been incorporated in the Statute Book in order to ensure that the innocent people are not sent behind bars even for couple of days as a result of false complaint being filed. The facts of the present case disclose that the new owner of the property is interested in dispossessing the lawful tenants such as the present applicants and, for that purpose, after assaulting the present applicant Rajeev Prabhu and his sisters, a false complaint 5 has been lodged against them. In my view, therefore, this is a fit case for grant of anticipatory bail. 6. Applicants, therefore, in the event of their arrest in connection with the offence punishable under sections 324, 323, 452, 341, 504, 34 of the Indian Penal Code which is registered vide C.R. No.284 of 2008 with Shivaji Nagar Police Station, Pune, be released on bail in the sum of Rs 10,000/- each with one or two sureties in the like amount. Applicants shall report to the said Police Station for a period of four days from 06/04/2009 to 09/04/2009 at 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m and, thereafter, the applicants shall report to the said Police Station as and when called. It is clarified that the police shall give atleast 48 hours' notice to the applicants and they shall call the applicants only between 11.00 a.m and 2.00 p.m. 7. Both these applications are accordingly disposed of. (V.M. KANADE, J.)