41-ba-3629-26.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.3629 OF 2026 Samadhan D. Mhaske .. Applicant Versus The State of Maharashtra .. Respondent ....................  Mr. Zaid Anwar Qureshi, Advocates for Applicant.  Ms. Shilpa G. Talhar, APP for Respondent - State. ................... CORAM : MILIND N. JADHAV, J. DATE : SEPTEMBER 22, 2026 P.C. : 1. Heard Mr. Qureshi, learned Advocate for Applicant and Ms. Talhar, learned APP for Respondent - State. 2. By this Bail Application, Applicant is seeking enlargement on bail in C.R. No. 315 of 2023 registered with Chinchwad Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 120-B, 364, 392, 201 r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 3. Applicant before me is arraigned as accused No.3 in the present crime. There are two other accused persons. It is seen that between accused No.2 and deceased victim, there was a transaction of Rs.30,00,000/- which the victim was repeatedly requesting the accused No.2 to return him the money. The case of prosecution is that accused No.2 invited the victim to his flat in Aerocity Society, Ubale Nagar, Wagholi and at the same time accused No.2 also took aid and assistance of co-accused No.1 and present Applicant for commission of said crime. Meera Jadhav 1 of 4 41-ba-3629-26.doc 4. The specific case of prosecution is that victim was strangulated in the flat and murdered and his body was thereafter disposed off in a ghat area called Tamhini Ghat which is at a distance of 74 kms. Postmortem report prima facie does not give any evidence whatsoever of strangulation which therefore nullifies the theory of prosecution that one of the co-accused person had bought a rope for Rs.40 from a shop to commit the said act. The car of the victim and his body were both found in the valley in Tamhini Ghat. The distance of 74 kms could not have been traversed without any prima facie material evidence having been placed on record. The society called Aerocity would undoubtedly have CCTV camera. They would undoubtedly have security, who would register the ingress and exit of persons in the society. 5. There is no investigation done whatsoever in that direction to persuade me to accept the prosecution’s case. It is prima facie seen that death of the victim occurred due to multiple stab injuries. The Applicant is a vegetable vendor, has no antecedents. Applicant had been a common friend and it is prosecution's case that all friends including the victim had met at the residence of accused No.2 and had a drinking session together. However, pursuant to that particular episode there is nothing which is placed on record to persuade me to consider the prosecution’s case as probable. There is no direct evidence whatsoever. The Applicant is incarcerated for the past 3 years without Meera Jadhav 2 of 4 41-ba-3629-26.doc the trial commencing or for that matter concluding in the near future. 6. In view of the above, Applicant has made out a case for grant of bail. Therefore, following order is passed:- (i) Applicant – Samadhan D. Mhaske is directed to be immediately released from prison in connection with Crime No. 315 of 2023; (ii) The Applicant is granted provisional bail in view of the fact that the Applicant lost his father ten days ago. Accordingly, considering the request made by Mr. Qureshi, the Applicant is granted provisional bail upon furnishing cash bail of Rs. 25,000/-. (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only); (iii) Applicant shall report to the Investigating Officer at Chinchwad 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 41-ba-3629-26.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 HARSHADA HANUMANT SAWANT Digitally signed by HARSHADA HANUMANT SAWANT Date: 2026.09.22 20:29:11 +0530