Criminal Appeal against rejection of anticipatory bail. The Court noted serious discrepancies in statements, delay in FIR, and lack of corroboration. It found merit in the claim of false FIR due to internal rivalry.
Anticipatory bail granted with bond of Rs. 30,000 and condition to report to police daily for 15 days.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
3. cri apeal 314-17.doc
RMA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 314 OF 2017
Father Jacob Joseph D'Britto
.. Appellant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra
.. Respondent
Appearances
Mr. A.P. Mundargi, Sr. Advocate a/w Mr. Hrishikesh Mundargi i/by Mr. Shivaji K. Farakate Advocate for the Appellant Mrs. G.P. Mulekar APP for the State
CORAM : SMT. V.K. TAHILRAMANI &
M.S. KARNIK, JJ.
DATE : APRIL 25, 2017.
ORAL JUDGMENT [PER SMT. V.K. TAHILRAMANI, J.] :
APP for the State.
order dated 23.12.2016 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Palghar in Anticipatory Bail Application No. 213/2016
wherein the appellant had sought anticipatory bail in C.R.
No. I-153/2016 of Talasari Police Station. By order dated
23.12.2016, the application of the appellant for anticipatory
bail came to be rejected.
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p.m., two girls i.e Roshani and Namrata both aged 11 years were standing near the door of the room. At that time, the appellant put his arm around Namrata and pulled her close and thereafter he rested his head on her shoulder. Ms. Diksha Gaikwad stated that she had seen this incident herself. Thereafter, the appellant was warned and thereafter, no such incident took place. However, the case of Ms. Diksha Gaikwad is that the appellant was not transfered from there, hence, she lodged the FIR, though after 9.10.2015, no such incident relating to any girl took place.
has been belatedly lodged after one year and two months of
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the incident. He submitted that this itself shows that the FIR
has been lodged with malafide intention on account of an afterthought and on account of this delay, there is serious doubt about the veracity of the statement of the complainant.
in her statement does not mention anything what the complainant Diksha Gaikwad has stated. Namrata has only stated that the appellant on the said day caught hold of her hand. She does not give details like Diksha Gaikwad that
the appellant put his arm around her and pulled her close
and thereafter rested his head on her shoulder but Namrata only states that the appellant caught her hand. Thus, it is
seen that there is serious discrepancy between the statement of the victim which has been recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the statement of the complainant Ms. Diksha Gaikwad. This itself again raises serious doubt about the genuineness of
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the prosecution case.
other student Roshani had stated that the appellant used to call students and makes them sit on his lap. However, it is noticed that neither Namrata nor Roshani has stated that the appellant did this act to them nor they mention the name of
any girl with whom such act was done by the appellant. There is no statement of any other girl to that effect. Though the FIR was lodged on 5.12.2016, it is noticed that no such statement of any girl has been recorded that the appellant used to make her sit on his lap.
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transfered somewhere else. Thus, we find much merit in the submission that on account of some internal rivalry in the educational institution, false FIR has been lodged against the appellant. In this view of the matter, we are inclined to
grant anticipatory bail to the appellant, hence, we proceed to pass the following order:-
O R D E R
[ M.S. KARNIK, J. ] [ SMT. V.K. TAHILRAMANI, J. ]
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2 issues framed by the court
Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the appellant despite conflicting statements and delay in lodging the FIR.
Whether the discrepancy between the complainant’s statement and the victim’s statement casts doubt on the prosecution case.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Father Jacob Joseph D'Britto
The State of Maharashtra
V.K. Tahilramani
M.S. Karnik
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
