-1- 948-BA-1254-2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1254 OF 2026 WITH CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 3018 OF 2026 IN BA/1254/2026 RAMESHWAR SHIVAJI KONDALWADE VERSUS THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER ..... Advocate for Applicant : Mr. Hanmant V. Patil APP for Respondent - State : Mr. V. K. Kotecha Advocate for Respondent No.2 : Mr. Bhupendra P. Thakare ..… CORAM : HITEN S. VENEGAVKAR, J. DATED : 9th SEPTEMBER 2026 PER COURT : 1. This is an application seeking regular bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) in connection with Crime No. 078 of 2026, registered with Mukhed Police Station, District Nanded, for the offences punishable under Sections 108, 64(1) and 3(5) of the BNS. The applicant is in custody since 7th April, 2026. The co-accused in the present offence has already been released on anticipatory bail. The investigation is complete and the charge sheet has also been filed. However, the learned APP submits that the handwriting expert's report pertaining to the suicide note is still awaited. The learned APP does not have any instructions as to when the handwriting expert's report will be available. 2026:BHC-AUG:41865 -2- 948-BA-1254-2026 2. The prosecution case, in brief, is that the deceased Savita was the wife of the informant Balaji Kendre. The informant was cultivating agricultural land at village Ladga and the agricultural field of the applicant's family was adjoining it. According to the prosecution, there was an earlier dispute between the informant and the applicant's father in relation to the removal of residue of soybean crop. It is alleged that sometime in December 2025, when the deceased was in the agricultural field and her husband was away, the applicant approached her from behind and subjected her to forcible sexual intercourse. According to the prosecution, the act was committed against the backdrop of the aforesaid dispute. The deceased, however, did not disclose the alleged incident to her husband or other family members during her lifetime. The informant states that for about eight days preceding her death, she appeared to be under tension but did not disclose the reason despite being asked. In the early hours of 7th April, 2026, she committed suicide by hanging. The prosecution witnesses had handed over a handwritten suicide note, which was found on the body of the deceased, and the informant, in his statement, has specifically stated that the handwriting in the suicide note belongs to the deceased. The suicide note refers to the applicant and narrates the alleged sexual assault and also refers to -3- 948-BA-1254-2026 the earlier dispute concerning the soybean residue. The husband, while lodging the report, has clarified this position. The postmortem attributes the death to asphyxia due to hanging. 3. Learned counsel appearing for the applicant submits that the entire prosecution case concerning the alleged sexual assault rests substantially upon the suicide note. The alleged incident is of December 2025, whereas the suicide occurred on 7th April. 2026. During the intervening period, no complaint was lodged and the deceased did not disclose the alleged assault to her husband, children, relatives, police or any other person. There is no contemporaneous medical report or medical evidence pertaining to the sexual assault. The medical papers relied upon by the prosecution pertain to treatment taken by the deceased in February 2026 for an illness and do not, according to the applicant, provide corroboration to the alleged allegation of rape. The record shows laboratory investigation of the deceased in the month of February 2026. 4. It is further submitted that the handwriting expert's report has not yet been received. The alleged discovery at the instance of the applicant merely identifies the place where the offence is said to have occurred and no incriminating article was -4- 948-BA-1254-2026 recovered pursuant thereto. It is further contended that, so far as Section 108 of the BNS is concerned, there is neither a proximate act of instigation nor material showing the requisite mens rea. The alleged sexual assault and the suicide are separated by about four months. The applicant has no criminal antecedents. He is an agriculturist with a wife and a young child, and with the investigation having concluded, his further custody is unwarranted. The learned counsel also relied upon the factor of the previous dispute between the two families as a circumstance requiring the prosecution evidence to be tested at the time of trial. 5. The learned APP opposes the application. He submits that the deceased herself had left behind the detailed note specifically attributing the sexual assault to the applicant and explaining why she did not disclose it to her husband. The husband has identified the handwriting as that of his wife. Merely because the expert report has not yet been received would not justify discarding the note at the stage of bail. The prosecution further relies upon the conduct of the deceased after the incident, the treatment taken by her and the disclosure of the applicant of the place of occurrence. 6. Considering the gravity of the accusation under Section -5- 948-BA-1254-2026 64(1) of the BNS and the fact that the applicant and the prosecution witnesses belong to the same village, it is apprehended that his release may result in intimidation of witnesses. 7. The learned advocate appearing for respondent No. 2 also vehemently opposed the present application. Though he accepted the arguments canvassed by the learned APP, he additionally submitted that the suicide note, which is in the handwriting of the deceased clearly mentions the name of the present applicant and the allegation of a heinous offence being committed at the hands of the applicant. The previous enmity is the motive that will have to be taken into consideration at the stage of bail. He further argued that once there is material available to corroborate that the handwriting belongs to the deceased, then the absence of the C.A. report at the stage of bail will have no predicament to draw presumption or to draw an inference contrary to the prosecution. He thus prayed that the application for bail be rejected. 8. I have considered the rival submissions and perused the charge sheet. 9. At the outset, the allegations concerning the offence -6- 948-BA-1254-2026 punishable under Section 64(1) of the BNS are undoubtedly serious and the offence is undoubtedly heinous. The Court cannot, at the stage of bail, undertake a meticulous evaluation of the suicide note or record a finding regarding its genuineness. Equally the Court cannot proceed on the footing that the allegations contained therein stand conclusively established. The evidentiary value, authorship and reliability of the document will have to be determined and tested at the time of trial. 10. The prosecution material nevertheless presents certain features which assume significance for the limited purpose of bail. The alleged sexual assault occurred sometime in December 2025. The deceased continued to reside with her family thereafter, and the suicide occurred on 7th April, 2026. There is presently no material indicating that during this period she made any complaint or disclosure concerning the alleged assault to any member of her family, police or any other person. The prosecution relies principally upon the suicide note for establishing the allegations of sexual assault. There is no other contemporaneous medical evidence relating to such assault. 11. These circumstances are not sufficient at this stage to disbelieve the prosecution case, particularly when the note itself -7- 948-BA-1254-2026 purports to explain the silence of the deceased, but they are relevant while considering whether continued incarceration of the applicant pending trial is necessary. 12. The separate consideration arises in relation to the offences punishable under Section 108 of the BNS. Abetment necessarily imports the ingredients contained in Section 45 of the BNS. There must prima facie be material showing instigation, conspiracy, or intentional aid coupled with the requisite mens rea. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has reiterated that the act relied upon as constituting instigation or incitement must bear a proximate nexus with the suicide and must disclose an intention to drive or encourage the deceased towards the result. 13. Tested prima facie on the above principles, the material presently placed before this Court does not disclose any act of the applicant during the intervening period of approximately four months whereby he instigated, threatened, incited or intentionally aided the deceased to commit suicide. There is no material indicating any contact between the applicant and the deceased between December 2025 and 7th April, 2026, which could, at this stage, constitute such instigation. -8- 948-BA-1254-2026 14. The allegation of sexual assault is a grave and independent accusation which will have to be tried on its own evidence. However, commission of an offence against a person and abetment of that person's subsequent suicide are distinct legal accusations, and the latter requires the statutory ingredients of abetment to be independently satisfied. On the present material, therefore, the prosecution case under Section 108 requires closer scrutiny at the time of trial. 15. The reliance placed upon the disclosure statement of the applicant identifying the alleged place of sexual assault also cannot, by itself, justify continued detention. What evidentiary value can be attached to such statement is a matter for trial. Significantly, the applicant's own bail pleadings point out that nothing was recovered pursuant to the disclosure. It would therefore be inappropriate to treat the mere identification of the place as incriminating material against the present applicant at the stage when this Court is considering an application for bail. 16. Another circumstance which deserves consideration is that the investigation is now complete and the charge sheet has been filed. The applicant has remained in custody since 7th April, 2026. His custodial interrogation is no longer required, and -9- 948-BA-1254-2026 nothing is shown to remain to be recovered from him. 17. The apprehension of the prosecution concerning the witnesses who reside in the same village can be taken care of by imposing stringent conditions against the applicant. 18. I am conscious that the suicide note specifically names the applicant and contains an accusation of sexual assault. Therefore, nothing stated hereinabove should be understood as expressing any final opinion regarding the authenticity or truthfulness of that accusation. The prosecution would be entitled to prove the note in accordance with law, and the trial court shall evaluate the entire evidence, uninfluenced by these observations. 19. However, having regard to the absence of any contemporaneous complaint or other independent material presently showing corroboration concerning the alleged sexual assault, the considerable interval between the alleged assault and the suicide coupled with the absence of a proximate act of instigation presently demonstrated for the purpose of Section 108 of the BNS, completion of investigation and filing of the charge sheet, I am of the opinion that continued detention of the applicant is not necessary and the applicant can be released on bail by imposing certain conditions. Hence, the following order : -10- 948-BA-1254-2026 ORDER (i) The Bail Application is allowed. (ii) The applicant shall be released on bail in Crime No. 078 of 2026, registered with Mukhed Police Station, District Nanded, for the offences punishable under Sections 108, 64(1) and 3(5) of the BNS, on furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) with one solvent surety in the like amount, subject to the following conditions : a) The applicant shall attend the trial Court on every date fixed, unless their attendance is specifically exempted. b) The applicant shall not, directly or indirectly, contact, threaten, induce or influence the informant or any prosecution witness and shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence. c) The applicant shall not enter Taluka Mukhed except for the purpose of attending the Investigating Officer and attending the trial court dates, till the evidence of the informant and other two cousin brothers of the deceased is recorded. d) The applicant shall furnish his residential address at which he will reside outside the Mukhed Taluka after his release and mobile numbers to the Investigating Officer and the trial Court within seven days of release, intimate any change forthwith, and attend the Investigating Officer upon prior written notice if further investigation is required. -11- 948-BA-1254-2026 e) The applicant shall not leave India without prior permission of the trial Court and, if they possess passports, shall deposit the same with the trial Court within seven days of their release. f) The applicant shall not involve themselves in any offence of a similar nature while on bail. g) Breach of any of the above conditions shall entitle the prosecution to apply for cancellation of bail. h) All observations in this order are prima facie and confined to the decision of this bail application. The trial Court shall decide the case independently on the evidence led before it. The Bail Application is disposed of in the above terms. i) In view of disposal of Bail Application, Criminal Application No. 3018 of 2026 is also disposed of. (HITEN S. VENEGAVKAR) JUDGE Tandale