1 12.aba.712.2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR CRIMINAL APPLICATION (ABA) NO.712 OF 2026 Sidharth s/o Sudam Bhalerao ..vs.. State of Maharashtra - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, Court's or Judge's orders appearances, Court's orders of directions and Registrar's orders - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Shri P.S. Wathore, Advocate for the applicant. Shri H.R. Dhumale, APP for non-applicant/State. Shri A.S. Dhore, Advocate assist to prosecution. CORAM: M.M. NERLIKAR, J. DATE : 07.09.2026. Heard. 2. Apprehending arrest in connection with Crime No.238/2026 registered with Lonar Police Station, District Buldhana for the offences punishable under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 340(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the applicant prayed for pre-arrest protection. 3. The FIR came to be lodged alleging that the applicant who was the incharge Secretary of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (‘APMC’), during his tenure from 2022 to 2025 i.e. until his retirement allegedly secured his promotion to the post of Secretary through a resolution of Board of Directors and obtained its approval from the District Deputy Registrar, Co- operative Society Buldhana by misusing his position, during which misused the Committee’s/Government Fund and also prepared forged documents in connection with his pension/retirement benefits and therefore the 2026:BHC-NAG:11817 2 12.aba.712.2026 report. 4. Learned Counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is a retired employee of the APMC. He has filed a Writ Petition seeking several relief. During the hearing of the same, the statement of the APMC was recorded and the Writ Petition came to be disposed of by accepting the statement of the respondent no.3 that “the decision as regards the admissibility and grant of arrears shall be communicated within a period of twelve weeks from today”. However, as the said order was not complied with, a contempt petition was also filed, which is pending. It is submitted that out of vengeance, the FIR was registered. The APMC has conducted the enquiry however everything cropped up only after the filing of the Writ Petition and Contempt Petition. Therefore, since the said FIR was filed out of the grudge and considering the nature of allegation, no custodial interrogation is necessary, hence the applicant prayed to be protected. 5. On the other hand, learned APP and learned Advocate assisting prosecution vehemently opposed the application and submitted that it came to the knowledge of the Chairman of the APMC that the applicant has committed forgery recently, when the order of this Court along with some documents were received by the informant. Further detailed enquiry was conducted, wherein it was found that the resolution sent by the applicant to the Director of APMC, Pune was forged and it bears forged signature of the informant. 6. In the year 2023, the applicant sent his son and 3 12.aba.712.2026 daughter-in-law for the purpose of training at Jaipur. They further submit that not only that the recommendation letter, Certificate, Resolution etc, all these forged documents have been annexed along with the proposal for pensionary benefits by the applicant. Under such circumstances, they submit that the applicant does not deserve to be granted pre-arrest protection. 7. I have considered the rival submissions. It appears that the applicant retired on 30.04.2025. In the year 2019 the applicant had filed a Writ Petition before this Court praying certain reliefs, in which by accepting the statement of the APMC that “the decision as regards the admissibility and grant of arrears shall be communicated within a period of twelve weeks from today”, the said writ petition was disposed of. However, it appears that further a contempt petition was filed by the applicant, which is still pending. So far as present case is concerned, though the applicant was acting as In- charge Secretary of the APMC, however, the allegations show that the applicant has sent the resolution to appoint him as a Secretary. The said resolution was passed in the year 2023 and it was sent to the Director of Marketing, Pune. Thereafter, the Director of Marketing, Pune has granted approval appointing him as a secretary and therefore, till his retirement, he worked as a Secretary. Prima facie it appears that though the approval was granted to the applicant to work as a Secretary, till the date of his retirement, no one objected to the approval. So far as the forging of the communication of 2023 between the Deputy Director of 4 12.aba.712.2026 Marketing is concerned, it appears that the son and daughter-in-law of the applicant were sent for training meant for the farmers. Another forged documents are the resolution annexed along with the proposal for pensionary benefits. It is alleged that all these documents are not signed by the Chairman of the APMC , that signature are forged. It is to be noted that all these happened in the year 2023 and the enquiry was conducted in the year 2026 by the Assistant Registrar of the Cooperative Society, wherein the allegations were found to be true. At no point of time till the retirement of the applicant, the enquiry was conducted by the APMC, when the applicant was working as a Secretary since from the date of approval. It is very difficult to believe that no one noticed the activity of the applicant. So far as the custody is concerned, in my opinion, the custodial interrogation would not be necessary. This Court has already protected the applicant by order dated 11.08.2026. Considering the nature of allegations and the dispute between the applicant and the Chairman, in my opinion, the applicant has made out a case for anticipatory bail. Hence the following order : (a) Application is allowed and disposed of. (b) The order dated 11.08.2026 is hereby confirmed on the same terms and conditions as incorporated in the said order. (c) Pending application, if any, stands disposed of accordingly. (d) The observations of this Court are prima facie in 5 12.aba.712.2026 nature and are only limited to this application. The Trial Court shall not be influenced by the aforesaid observations. (M.M. NERLIKAR , J. ) Trupti Signed by: Trupti D. Agrawal Designation: PA To Honourable Judge Date: 07/09/2026 19:31:41