Datta Laxman Dhaware vs State Of Maharashtra And Anr
2023 Latest Caselaw 1835 Bom

                                                            1 of 3                  24-ia-3998-22


                                  IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                        CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

                                     INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 3998 OF 2022
                                                      IN
                                       CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1160 OF 2022

                       Datta Laxman Dhaware                                   ..Applicant
                             Versus
                       The State of Maharashtra & Anr.                        ..Respondents

                                                    __________
                       Mr. Nagesh Y. Chavan for Applicant.
                       Mr. S. R. Agarkar, APP for State/Respondent No.1.
                                                    __________

                                                 CORAM : SARANG V. KOTWAL, J.

DATE : 23 FEBRUARY 2023 PC :

1. This is an application for bail pending final disposal of

the applicant's Criminal Appeal No.1160 of 2022. The applicant's

appeal is already admitted. He has challenged the Judgment and

order dated 07/09/2022 passed by learned Additional Sessions

Judge, Sangli, in Special Case (POCSO) No. 60 of 2017. The

applicant was convicted for commission of offences punishable

under sections 376(2)(i) and 376(2)(n) of the I.P.C. and U/s.6 of

the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He was

sentenced to suffer R.I. for 10 years and to pay a fine of Digitally signed by VINOD VINOD BHASKAR BHASKAR GOKHALE GOKHALE Date:

2023.02.24 11:01:47 +0530 Gokhale 2 of 3 24-ia-3998-22

Rs.10000/- and in default of payment of fine to suffer further R.I.

for one year.

2. Heard Shri. Nagesh Chavan, learned counsel for the

applicant and Shri. Agarkar, learned APP for the State. I have also

perused the evidence annexed to this appeal and the copy of the

impugned Judgment.

3. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the

applicant was on bail during trial and there are no allegations that

he had misused that liberty. He further submitted that the evidence

of the prosecution in respect of D.N.A. samples is not clear and

there is nothing to show that the samples were preserved properly.

He further submitted that the evidence of the victim is not

believable.

4. Learned APP opposed these submissions. He relied on

the observations made in paragraph 21 and 22 of the impugned

Judgment, as well as, on the evidence of the victim.

5. I have considered these submissions. The victim was

merely 12 years of age at the time of incident. The applicant was 3 of 3 24-ia-3998-22

residing behind her house. He continuously pursued her and

finally committed sexual intercourse with her on 4 to 5 occasions

at different places. Resultantly, she became pregnant. Her

pregnancy was terminated and the DNA samples of the applicant,

the victim and the product of conception were sent for analysis.

The paragraph Nos.21 and 22 of the impugned Judgment referred

to these facts. It is observed that the DNA analysis report showed

that the appellant and the victim were the biological parents of the

product of conception. In this view of the matter, there is direct

evidence against the applicant. At the time of commission of the

offence, he was about 30 years of age and the victim was quite

young. Considering all these aspects and the nature of offence, no

case for grant of bail is made out. The evidence cannot be

analyzed in depth, at this stage, but suffice it to say at this stage

that, there is sufficient material against the applicant.

6. The application is rejected.

(SARANG V. KOTWAL, J.)