TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (7) TMI 2007
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....itya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. JUDGMENT Mehta, J. 1. Heard. 2. Leave granted. 3. These appeals, by special leave, call into question the order dated 19th June, 2024, passed by the learned Single Judge of High Court of Judicature at Bombay [Hereinafter referred to as 'High Court'.] in Anticipatory Bail Application Nos. 3137 of 2023 and 2499 of 2023, whereby respondent No. 2 in Criminal Appeal @ SLP(Crl.) No. 10251 of 2024 and respondent Nos. 2, 3, and 4 in Criminal Appeal @ SLP(Crl.) No. 10255 of 2024, were granted pre-arrest bail in connection with Crime No. 1-103 of 2023. 4. The appellant herein is the comp....
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....ellant complainant, where they caused extensive damage including disconnecting the CCTV system, cutting down the DVR wires, and vandalizing the interiors of the property. 7. The appellant-complainant registered an FIR being Crime No. 1-103 of 2023, against the accused respondents at Deccan Police Station, Pune on 29th June, 2023 for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 149, 323, 387, 427, 452, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. [For short 'IPC'.] 8. The accused respondents herein, apprehending their arrest in connection with the aforesaid FIR, approached the Sessions Court, Pune, seeking the grant of pre-arrest bail. It may be mentioned that, in the meantime, the appellant-complainant had filed a Civil Misc. Appea....
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....ad interim bail. There is a specific allegation in the counter affidavit that the accused-Vishwajeet threatened an employee of the subject-hotel, namely, Bahadur (the guard), with dire consequences insinuating that he would be removed from his job. A non-cognizable Crime No. 283 of 2023 has been registered against the accused-Vishwajeet, for the said act of threatening the witnesses. 13. In addition thereto, the counter affidavit filed by the State also refers to a complaint that has been registered at Deccan Police Station, Pune, which led to registration of Crime No. 167 of 2023 against the accused-Vishwajeet for the offences punishable under Sections 406, 403, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B read with Section 34 of the IPC. The allegations ....
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....ly erred in extending the benefit of pre-arrest bail to the accused respondents. 18. This Court, in numerous judgments, has held that anticipatory bail is an exceptional remedy and ought not to be granted in a routine manner. There must exist strong reasons for extending indulgence of this extraordinary remedy to a person accused of grave offences. In this regard, we may gainfully refer to Srikant Upadhyay v. State of Bihar [2024 SCC OnLine SC 282] wherein this Court noted as follows: "We have already held that the power to grant anticipatory bail is an extraordinary power. Though in many cases it was held that bail is said to be a rule, it cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be said that anticipatory bail is the rule. It can....
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.... need for custodial investigation of the accused respondents. 20. Additionally, the High Court failed to notice the criminal antecedents of the accused persons, which are highlighted in the counter affidavit filed by the State. Apparently, the incident recorded in the FIR was a clear-cut attempt by the estranged husband (accused-Vishwajeet) to dispossess his own wife (appellant-complainant) from her lawfully inherited property i.e., the subject-hotel, by use of force and by employing henchmen to do the dirty work. Hence, considering the gravity of allegations, it is not a case warranting indulgence of pre-arrest bail to the accused. In our view, the High Court clearly erred in granting such liberty to the accused respondents. Furthermore....