Order 081026ba1288.26 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR. CRIMINAL APPLICATION [BA] NO. 1288 OF 2026. Snehal Jagdish Vitankar -VERSUS- State of Maharashtra. Office notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders Court’s or Judge’s Orders or directions and Registrar’s orders. Shri R.M. Daga, Advocate for the Applicant. Ms S.N. Thakur, A.P.P. for the Non-applicant/State. CORAM : M.M. NERLIKAR, J. DATE : OCTOBER 08, 2026. Heard learned Counsel for the parties. 2. The applicant came to be arrested in connection with Crime No.500/2025 registered with Kuhi Police Station, District Nagpur for the offences punishable under Sections 318[4], 336[2] and 336[3] of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). Charge sheet came to be filed and Sections 238 and 3[5] of BNS came to be added. 3. The first information report came to be lodged by Dr.Ganesh Mukkawar, alleging that on 26.06.2025 he received an agreement of sale and power of attorney in respect Rgd. 2026:BHC-NAG:13530 Order 081026ba1288.26 2 of his agricultural field, on his whatsapp from one Jahid Khan, who asked the informant whether he had executed the same. The informant replied that he has not executed the same, but, when he perused the documents, he noticed that his signature and signatures of his family members on the said documents were forged. Hence, the report. 4. The learned Counsel for the applicant submits that it is alleged that the land belonging to Dr.Mukkawar was sold by the applicant to one Gauri Shankar by sale deed using forged and fabricated signatures of informant and his family members. It is submitted that there was no intention on the part of the applicant, , the main person behind the episode is co-accused Suraj. It is submitted that the amount received by applicant i.e. Rs.20 lakhs was already returned to the purchaser Gauri Shankar, and Gauri Shankar in his statement has accepted this fact. The learned Counsel further submits that the co-accused Suraj has been granted bail by the trial Court on the condition of depositing Rs.5 lakhs within two weeks after his release on bail and Rs.26 lakhs within a period of 6 months. It is submitted that maximum punishment provided Rgd. Order 081026ba1288.26 3 for the charged offence is 7 years and the applicant had already undergone period of one year, in such circumstances he prayed for grant of bail. 5. On the other hand, the learned A.P.P. vehemently opposes the application by submitting that it is a case of impersonation. She submits that signatures of informant and his family members were forged and sale deed was executed by the applicant. She further submits that even the document- general power of attorney has been forged, sale deed also appears to be fabricated since signatures of all 4 persons were forged and the aadhar card details are also forged. Learned A.P.P. submits that the applicant is having criminal antecedent, being Crime No.139/2021 under Sections 188, 272, 273 and 328 of the Indian Penal Code and also under the provisions of Food Safety and Standard Act. In such circumstances, considering the seriousness of the offence, and since there is ample material against the applicant, he does not deserves to be released on bail. 6. I have considered the rival submissions of the parties. It appears from the record that co-accused Suraj has Rgd. Order 081026ba1288.26 4 been granted bail by the trial Court on the condition of depositing of Rs.5 lakhs within two weeks of his release and Rs.26 lakhs within 6 months after release. It is to be noted that from the statement of Gauri Shankar, who is the purchaser of the land, he has stated that he had received Rs.20 lakhs from the applicant. The maximum punishment provided for the offence is upto 7 years. Though the allegations appears to be of forgery and impersonation, however, considering the nature of allegation and the fact that the co-accused has been granted bail by the trial Court, I am inclined to enlarge the applicant by imposing stringent conditions. Hence the following order. ORDER (i) Criminal Application is allowed and disposed of. (ii) The applicant /accused Snehal Jagdish Vitankar be released on regular bail in connection with Crime No..500/2025 registered with Kuhi Police Station, District Nagpur for the offences punishable under Sections 318[4], 336[2], 336[3], 238 and 3[5] of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) on his furnishing P.R. Rgd. Order 081026ba1288.26 5 Bond of Rs.50,000/- with two sureties in the like amount. (iii) The accused shall not enter within the territorial jurisdiction where the informant is residing, till the completion of the trial. (iv) The accused shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case, as also shall not tamper with the evidence. (v) The accused shall provide his residential address and cell number to Police Station concerned and shall not change his place of residence without prior intimation to the Investigating Agency. (vi) The accused shall attend each and every date of trial regularly. If he fails to attend the trial for one single date, or fails to comply with the aforesaid conditions, his default would entail the State to ask for cancellation of bail. (vii) The above observations are prima facie in nature, and restricted for the purpose of deciding this application. The Trial Court shall not get itself influenced by said observations, during the course of trial. (viii) Misc. Applications, if any, are also disposed of. JUDGE Rgd. Signed by: R.G. Dhuriya (RGD) Designation: Senior Pvt. Secretary Date: 09/10/2026 15:32:30