High Court
Legal Reasoning
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAYBENCH AT AURANGABAD23 CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.1940 OF 20231Bhagwan Shahaji Patil,Age 29 yrs., Occ. Agri.,R/o Hausri, Tq. Nilanga,Dist. Latur. 2Chandu @ Chandrakant Madhav Barmade,Age 36 yrs., Occ. Agri.,R/o as above. 3Chandu @ Chandrakant Madhav Patil,Age 37 yrs., Occ. Agri.,R/o as above. 4Pranav @ Husen Kandhar Kale,Age 37 yrs., Occ. Service,R/o Yedshi, Tq. & Dist. Osmanabad. … Applicants… Versus …1The State of MaharashtraThrough Police Inspector,Police Station, Killari,Tq. Ausa, Dist. Latur. 2Sudam Sitaram Sawant,Age 65 yrs., Occ. Labour,R/o Shivajinagar, Sanja Road,Osmanabad, Tq. & Dist. Osmanabad.… Respondents...
Legal Reasoning
223_Cri.Appln_1940_2023+1Mr. S.S. Thombre, Advocate for applicantsMrs. Priya R. Bharaswadkar, APP for respondent No.1Mr. Sayali Tekale – Dadpe, Advocate (appointed) for respondent No.2...WITHCRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO.666 OF 2023Ishwar Vasantrao Gaikwad,Age 43 yrs., Occ. Agri.,R/o Gandhi Nagar, Nilanga,Tq. Nilanga, Dist. Latur. … Petitioner… Versus …1The State of Maharashtra2Sudam Sitaram Sawant,Age 65 yrs., Occ. Labour,R/o Shivajinagar, Sanja Road,Osmanabad, Tq. & Dist. Osmanabad.… Respondents...Mr. T.M. Venjane, Advocate for petitionerMrs. Priya R. Bharaswadkar, APP for respondent No.1Mr. Sayali Tekale – Dadpe, Advocate (appointed) for respondent No.2...CORAM :SMT. VIBHA KANKANWADI &R.W. JOSHI, JJ.DATE:18th NOVEMBER, 2024 323_Cri.Appln_1940_2023+1ORDER :( PER : SMT. VIBHA KANKANWADI, J. )1Present Criminal Application as well as Criminal Writ Petitionhave been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.The applicants/petitioner are seeking quashment of Sessions CaseNo.25/2023 pending before Additional Sessions Judge-4, Latur for theoffence punishable under Sections 306, 420, 323, 504, 506 read with Section34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 arising out of First Information Report videCrime No.62/2022 dated 13.03.2022 registered with Killari Police Station,Tq. Ausa, Dist. Latur, and the proceedings in Regular Criminal CaseNo.128/2022 pending before learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ausa. 2The First Information Report has been lodged by respondentNo.2, who is brother of the deceased. The deceased was a Police Constableposted at Police Station, Killari, Tq. Ausa, Dist. Latur. It is stated in the FirstInformation Report that deceased was attached to Kasar Sirsi Police Stationfrom 2013 – 2018 and then got acquaintance with accused DhanrajSuryawanshi through one Police Officer Mr. Kale. It is then stated in the FirstInformation Report that the deceased has raised loan by mortgaging his plotat Omerga and that amount was given as hand loan to Dhanraj Suryawanshi.It is stated that the deceased was demanding repayment of the said amount, 423_Cri.Appln_1940_2023+1but it was refused or denied or avoided. Deceased committed suicide on13.03.2022 by leaving a suicide note, in which the names of about 12persons and the family members of Dhanraj Suryawanshi have been noted. Itwas stated that the amount that was extended as hand loan to the tune ofRs.9,50,000/-. The suicide is by shooting himself. According to theinformant, the accused persons had cheated the deceased and then harassedhim to abet commission of suicide by him and prior to few days of the suicidethe present applicants/petitioner and the co-accused had caused grievoushurt, simple hurt, criminal intimidation etc. with the common intention. 3Heard learned Advocate Mr. S.S. Thombre for applicants inCriminal Application No.1940 of 2023, learned Advocate Mr. T.M. Venjane forpetitioner in Criminal Writ Petition No.666 of 2023 and learned APP Mrs.Priya R. Bharaswadkar for respondent No.1 as well as learned appointedAdvocate Ms. Sayali Tekale for respondent No.2, in both matters. 4Learned Advocates representing applicants/petitioner in bothmatters submit that the ingredients of the offence with which the prosecutionintends to proceed are not made out either on the face of First InformationReport or taking into consideration the contents of the charge sheet on theface of record. Further, when some of the co-accused had filed Criminal 523_Cri.Appln_1940_2023+1Application No.1755 of 2022, it was decided by the coordinate Bench of thisCourt on 17.04.2023, whereupon it was held that the acts do not amount toany offence though the facts are taken on the face of the record. Applicationof the main person i.e. Dhanraj Maruti Suryawanshi is allowed and therefore,the question of prosecution going ahead with the other accused will not arise.5Per contra, learned APP as well as learned Advocate appointed torepresent the cause of respondent No.2 strongly opposed the application andwrit petition and submit that there is sufficient evidence collected against thepresent applicants/petitioner. The incident of assault immediately prior tothe suicide would show that there was instigation or the intention behind theact of the applicants/petitioner was to pressurize the deceased. When therole is attributed to each and every applicant/petitioner, the First InformationReport as well as the entire proceedings need not be quashed and set aside. 6The first and foremost fact to be noted is that when thecoordinate Bench has made observations in respect of suicide note and takinginto consideration the prosecution story, the loan was given to DhanrajSuryawanshi and upon the demand for repayment it is stated that the otherco-accused had abetted the commission of suicide, then in such situation allthose observations in respect of suicide note, delay and the proximity 623_Cri.Appln_1940_2023+1between the two events i.e. giving of the loan, which had taken place in2017, but then the suicide is on 13.03.2022, then it cannot be stated thatthere was any intention on the part of the applicants/petitioner amounting toabetment to commit the suicide. 7Deceased was police person and, therefore, it can be said that hehad the basic knowledge about law or the legal implications of an act. Hehad not filed any suit for recovery of the amount. Another fact to be noted isthat though he is a Government servant; yet, he says that by raising loan onhis plot and also by mortgaging the gold ornaments of his wife he himselfhad taken loan and then given it to Dhanraj Suryawanshi. If it is so, then thepossibility that he might have given the said amount by charging interestcannot be ruled out. 8The charge sheet is filed, statements of witnesses have beenrecorded, but even the widow of the deceased, who is supposed to be thenatural custodian of the documents, if at all they were in the house of thedeceased; has not produced any document on record to show that suchfriendly loan was extended by the deceased to any one of theapplicants/petitioner. When the nexus between two acts i.e. giving loan in2017 and suicide in 2022 cannot be taken as a case of abetment, wherein the 723_Cri.Appln_1940_2023+1applicants/petitioner can be asked to face the trial. At the cost of repetition,we would say that we are reiterating the paragraphs from the order of thecoordinate Bench dated 17.04.2023 in respect of the offence under Section306 read with Section 107 of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 420, 423, 504,506 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. 9With these observations, we proceed to pass the following order.ORDERi)Criminal Application and Criminal Writ Petition are allowed.ii)Sessions Case No.25/2023 pending before Additional SessionsJudge-4, Latur for the offence punishable under Sections 306, 420, 323, 504,506 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 arising out of FirstInformation Report vide Crime No.62/2022 dated 13.03.2022 registered withKillari Police Station, Tq. Ausa, Dist. Latur, and the proceedings in RegularCriminal Case No.128/2022 pending before learned Judicial Magistrate FirstClass, Ausa, Dist. Latur stands quashed and set aside as against applicants inCriminal Application No.1940 of 2023 and petitioner in Criminal WritPetition No.666 of 2023. 823_Cri.Appln_1940_2023+1iii)Fees of the appointed Advocate is quantified at Rs.7,000/-(Rupees Seven Thousand only) to be paid by High Court Legal Services SubCommittee, Aurangabad. ( R.W. JOSHI, J. )( SMT. VIBHA KANKANWADI, J. )agd