38-ba-1684-26.doc IN IN THE THE HIGH HIGH COURT COURT OF OF JUDICATURE JUDICATURE AT AT BOMBAY BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION BAIL APPLICATION NO.1684 OF 2026 Shiva @ Shivaji Ambadas Shinde .. Applicant Versus The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent ....................  Mr. Karan Lalit Jain, Advocate for Applicant.  Ms. Shilpa Talhar, APP for Respondent - State. ................... CORAM : MILIND N. JADHAV, J. DATE : SEPTEMBER 21, 2026 P.C. : 1. Heard Mr. Jain, learned Advocate for Applicant and Ms. Talhar, learned APP for Respondent - State. 2. By this Bail Application, Applicant-accused No.1 is seeking enlargement on bail in C.R. No. 460 of 2023 registered with Nashik Road Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 8(c), 22(c), 29 of the Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short "NDPS Act"). 3. Applicant is arraigned as accused person out of 10 accused persons in the present crime. He is nomenclatured as Accused No.1. The prosecution has recovered a substantial quantity of the contraband substance MD of 4.870 kg from a rented shed, admittedly not belonging to the Applicant. However, a statement on page No. 75 is taken recourse to by the learned prosecutor by pointing out that the person who had given the shed on rent had given an amount of Meera Jadhav 1 of 4 MEERA MAHESH JADHAV Digitally signed by MEERA MAHESH JADHAV Date: 2026.09.22 11:30:26 +0530 38-ba-1684-26.doc Rs.10,000/- which was split between two of the accused persons i.e. Rs.5,000/- each. Admittedly, in so far as the present Applicant is concerned, he was already in custody at the time when the present incident had occurred. The Applicant is arrested on 30th November 2023 in the present crime and he is in custody for the past 2 years and 11 months. The charge has also not been framed. Five of the ten accused persons have already been enlarged on bail. 4. A strong circumstance has been argued by the learned Advocate for the Applicant that the Applicant is running a lawful business in the name of his wife and had supplied the raw material for the purpose of manufacturing the alleged contraband according to the prosecution. However, the Applicant has refuted this case of prosecution because he has been supplying the said raw material alongwith invoices and GST bills to other vendors also for manufacture of fertilizers and the said business is in the name and proprietary concern of his wife having been looked after by the Applicant. 5. Prima facie, the material which is placed on record shows that the Applicant has been indulging in the business of supply of chemicals in the name of Mayuri Enterprises, which is a proprietary concern standing in the name of his wife from 2022 onwards and has been supplying chemicals to multiple business entities, schools and colleges. The factum of knowledge of the Applicant having supplied Meera Jadhav 2 of 4 38-ba-1684-26.doc the raw material for the end use of the same to manufacture the alleged contraband is required to be proved by the prosecution prima facie. That not having been done, for the purpose of bail, arguable case is made out by the learned Advocate for the Applicant for grant of bail. 6. In view of the above the following order is passed:- (i) Applicant - Shiva @ Shivaji Ambadas Shinde is directed to be immediately released from prison in connection with Crime No. 460 of 2023; (ii) Applicant is directed to be released on bail on furnishing P.R. Bond of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) with one or two sureties in the like amount; (iii) Applicant shall report to the Investigating Officer at Nashik Road Police Station, once every month on the first Sunday of the month between 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; (iv) Applicant shall co-operate with the conduct of trial and attend the Trial Court on all dates, unless specifically exempted and will not take any unnecessary adjournments, if he does so it will entitle the prosecution to apply for revocation of this order; Meera Jadhav 3 of 4 38-ba-1684-26.doc (v) Applicant shall not leave the State of Maharashtra without prior permission of the Trial Court; (vi) Applicant shall not influence with any of the witnesses or tamper with the evidence in any manner; (vii) Applicant shall keep the Investigating Officer informed of his current address and mobile contact number and / or change of residence or mobile details, if any, from time to time, as applicable; and (viii)Any infraction of the conditions shall entail cancellation of bail granted to the Applicant. 7. It is clarified that the observations made in this order are limited for the purpose of granting bail only and I have not made any observations on merits of the case. The trial shall be adjudicated on the strength of the evidence led and strictly on its own merits being uninfluenced with any of the prima facie observations made hereinabove in this order. 8. Bail Application is allowed and disposed of in the above terms. [ MILIND N. JADHAV, J. ] Meera Jadhav 4 of 4