Nanda Paraji Kothere vs State of Maharashtra — Murder and Culpable Homicide | Bombay HC (2025)

Nanda Paraji Kothere vs State of Maharashtra — Murder and Culpable Homicide | Bombay HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Release on regular bail in Crime Register No. 74 of 2023 (Kasara Police Station) upon furnishing a Personal Bond of Rs. 50,000/- with one or more solvent sureties in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court, subject to conditions: (a) no tampering with evidence and no direct or indirect contact with, influence over, threatening or intimidation of witnesses; (b) regular attendance before the Trial Court unless exempted on valid grounds supported by sufficient cause; (c) reporting to Kasara Police Station on the first Monday of every month between 10.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon until further orders; (d) no leaving the territorial jurisdiction of the Trial Court without its prior written permission; (e) no commission of offences or criminal activity during the pendency of the trial; (f) furnishing current residential address and mobile number to the Investigating Officer and Trial Court at the time of furnishing surety, with written intimation of any change. Interim Application No. 381 of 2025 stands disposed of, nothing surviving.

Issue for consideration

Whether the applicant, arrested in Crime Register No.74 of 2023 (Kasara Police Station) for offences punishable under Sections 302, 201 read with Section 34 IPC, is entitled to regular bail under Section 439 CrPC. +2 more

Court's answer

The applicant is a woman with no previous criminal antecedent reported against her, has been in custody since her arrest, and the charge-sheet has already been filed; therefore her further custodial interrogation is not necessary.

Ratio / Principle

Mere motive or illicit relationship, by itself, is not sufficient to establish guilt unless accompanied by other cogent and corroborative material indicating the applicant's active participation in the crime.

Key takeaways

The Test Identification Parade of the co-accused, who allegedly physically assaulted the deceased, was not conducted despite the daughter's statement suggesting their presence on the relevant night, and this absence diminishes the evidentiary value of the statement linking the co-accused and, by extension, the applicant.ratio¶41
Call detail records merely show telephonic contact between the applicant and the co-accused; such evidence, without more, cannot sustain an inference of conspiracy or involvement in the murder, particularly as the applicant was not present at the spot where the actual assault and murder took place.ratio¶42

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court (Amit Borkar, J.; order dated July 30, 2025) allows a regular-bail application under Section 439 CrPC by a woman accused arraigned with two co-accused in C.R. No. 74 of 2023 of Kasara Police Station for the murder of her husband (Sections 302, 201 read with Section 34 IPC). The prosecution case rests entirely on circumstantial evidence. The Court held: (i) mere motive or illicit relationship is not sufficient to establish guilt without cogent corroborative material of active participation; (ii) TIP of the co-accused was not conducted despite the daughter's statement suggesting their presence on the relevant night, diminishing the evidentiary value of that statement; (iii) call detail records showing telephonic contact alone cannot prove conspiracy, the applicant not being present at the spot of the assault and murder; (iv) with the charge-sheet filed, custody since arrest and no criminal antecedents, further custodial interrogation is not necessary; (v) gravity alone cannot be the sole ground to deny bail. The applicant was ordered released on a Personal Bond of Rs. 50,000 with like surety, subject to stringent conditions including monthly reporting at Kasara Police Station, a ban on contacting or influencing witnesses, and restrictions on leaving the Trial Court's jurisdiction. Interim Application No. 381 of 2025 stands disposed of as nothing survives.