Paritosh Rajendra Agarwal and Anr. vs the State of Maharashtra — Bombay HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Paritosh Rajendra Agarwal and Anr. vs the State of Maharashtra — Bombay HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Anticipatory bail granted: in the event of arrest in Crime No. 180/2024 (Koregaon Park Police Station), the applicants to be released on a P.R. bond of Rs.30,000/- each with one or more sureties of the like amount, subject to conditions of co-operation with the investigation (attendance before the IO on 28-29 April 2025), abstention from inducement/tampering with evidence, and furnishing of residential addresses, contact numbers and e-mail addresses; the application stands disposed of.

Issue for consideration

Whether the applicants, who apprehend arrest in C.R. No. 180 of 2024 (Koregaon Police Station, Pune) for offences under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 324(5) r/w Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section 13 of the MOFA Act, 2012, are entitled to anticipatory bail.

Court's answer

Since the amount involved in the crime has already been paid by the applicants to respondent no.2, a case is made out to grant pre-arrest bail; the anticipatory bail application is allowed.

Ratio / Principle

In the event of arrest in connection with Crime No. 180/2024 registered with Koregaon Park Police Station, the applicants shall be released on bail on furnishing a P.R. bond of Rs.30,000/- each with one or more sureties each of the like amount.

Key takeaways

The release is subject to conditions: the applicants shall co-operate with the investigation and attend the Investigating Officer on 28 and 29 April 2025 between 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. and thereafter as called; shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to dissuade disclosure and shall not tamper with evidence; and shall furnish their residential addresses, contact numbers and e-mail addresses to the Investigating Officer.ratio¶33
The observations in the order are limited to the question of grant of anticipatory bail; the trial Court shall proceed further without being influenced by them. Violation of the conditions would make the applicants liable to face proceedings for cancellation of anticipatory bail.obiter¶36

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Anticipatory bail — Bombay High Court, Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction (Rajesh S. Patil, J.), ABA No. 82/2025, decided 21 April 2025 — Applicants (Paritosh Rajendra Agarwal and Anr.) apprehended arrest in C.R. No. 180 of 2024, Koregaon Police Station, Pune, for offences under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 324(5) r/w Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section 13 of the MOFA Act, 2012, arising out of a monetary dispute with respondent no.2 (Nilesh Kedia): Rs.27,00,000/- was paid by the first informant to the applicant in 2016-2017, of which Rs.16,00,000/- was returned in November 2024. By interim order dated 3 April 2025 the applicants were directed to pay the balance Rs.11,00,000/- by Demand Draft by 8 April 2025, with no coercive action in the meanwhile; respondent no.2 accepted the payment without prejudice to his claim for interest; the charge sheet stood filed. On 21 April 2025, noting that the balance of Rs. 11 lakhs had been paid to respondent no.2, the Court held that a case was made out to grant pre-arrest bail and allowed the application: in the event of arrest in Crime No. 180/2024 (Koregaon Park Police Station), release on a P.R. bond of Rs.30,000/- each with one or more sureties of the like amount, subject to conditions — co-operation with the investigation and attendance before the Investigating Officer on 28 and 29 April 2025 (11.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.) and thereafter as called, no inducement, threat or promise and no tampering with evidence, and furnishing of residential addresses, contact numbers and e-mail addresses; violation would invite cancellation proceedings. The observations were confined to the bail question, the trial Court to proceed uninfluenced thereby. Application disposed of.

2025:BHC-AS:18199

11-ABA-82-2025.doc

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO.82/2025

PARITOSH RAJENDRA AGARWAL AND ANR ...APPLICANTS

VS

THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANR. ...RESPONDENTS

Adv. Yuvraj Narvankar for the Applicant. Adv. Supriya Kak APP for the Respondent State. Adv. Veerdhawal Deshmukh for Respondent No.2.

CORAM : RAJESH S. PATIL, J. DATED : APRIL 21, 2025

P.C.:

The Applicants apprehend arrest in connection with C.R. No. 180 of 2024 registered with the Koregaon Police Station, Pune for offences punishable under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 324(5) r/w Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and Section 13 of MOFA Act, 2012.

On 3 April 2025 the following order is passed in the present proceedings:

The learned advocate for the applicants submits that his client is ready to pay the balance amount of Rs.11,00,000/- to Nilesh Kedia. The said payment can be made by a Demand Draft drawn in the name of Nilesh Kedia, no later than 8th April 2025.

The learned advocate for Respondent No.2 submits that there is no objection to receiving the amount of Rs.11,00,000/-. However, the issue of

1

Harish

11-ABA-82-2025.doc

interest remains, as the amount of Rs.27,00,000/- was paid by the first informant to the applicant between 2016 and 2017. Out of this, Rs.16,00,000/- was paid by the applicant to the first informant in November 2024. Therefore, his client is willing to accept the payment of Rs.11,00,000/- without prejudice to his rights and contentions regarding the claim for interest.

The learned APP submits that the charge sheet has already been filed, and the matter has proceeded further. She further submits that, at this stage, the verification of the signature on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) would not be conducted by the investigating officer..

Stand over to 21 April 2025 under the caption "For Compliance".

In the meanwhile, no coercive action will be taken against the applicants.

It has been informed to me that even the balance of Rs. 11

lakhs has been paid by the applicants to respondent no.2.

After hearing both the sides and considering the fact that

the amount involved in the present crime has already been paid by the applicants to respondent no. 2, according to me a case is made out to grant the present pre-arrest bail application. Hence, I pass the following order.

ORDER

(a) The anticipatory bail application is allowed.

(b) In the event of arrest in connection with Crime No. 180/2024 registered with Koregaon Park Police Station, the

2

Harish

11-ABA-82-2025.doc

applicants shall be released on bail, on furnishing P.R. bond to the extent of Rs.30,000/- each with one or more sureties each of the like amount.

(c) The applicants shall co-operate with the investigation and attend and meet the Investigating Officer of the concerned Police Station on 28 April 2025 and 29 April 2025 between 11.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and thereafter as and when called for.

(d) The applicants shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with facts of case so as to dissuade them from disclosing the facts to Court or any Police Officer and further, the applicants shall not tamper with the evidence in any manner whatsoever.

(e) The applicants shall furnish details of their residential addresses, contact numbers and e-mail addresses to the Investigating Officer.

Needless to say, violation of any of the aforesaid conditions would make the applicants liable to face proceedings for cancellation of anticipatory bail. It is clarified that the observations made in this order are limited to the question of grant of anticipatory bail to the applicants in the present application, and that the trial Court shall proceed further, without being influenced by the observations made in this order.

The anticipatory bail application is disposed off .

3

Harish

11-ABA-82-2025.doc

(RAJESH S. PATIL, J.)

Signed by: Harish V. Chaudhari Designation: PA To Honourable Judge Date: 23/04/2025 15:20:30 Harish

4