Bombay High Court
Tanmay Pravin Dhanva vs The State Of Maharashtra on 4 August, 2025
2025:BHC-AS:33225-DB 14-IA-3544-2024.DOC
Rekha Patil
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 3544 OF 2024
IN
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 961 OF 2024
Tanmay Pravin Dhanva ...Applicant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra ...Respondent
Mr. Aniket Vagal a/w Savvy Kolhekar, Mr. Kunal Pednekar and Ms.
Juhi Kadu, for the Applicant.
Ms. Priyanka S. Rane, APP, for the Respondent-State.
CORAM: SUMAN SHYAM &
SHYAM C. CHANDAK, JJ.
DATED: 4th AUGUST, 2025.
PC:-
1. Heard Mr. Aniket Vagal, learned counsel appearing for the
Applicant/Appellant. Also heard Ms. Priyanka Rane, learned APP
for the Respondent-State.
2. By the judgment and order dated 16 th August, 2024, passed
by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Nashik, in connection
with Sessions Case No. 168 of 2021, the applicant herein was
convicted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code ('IPC' for
short) and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life
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and also to pay fine of Rs.10,000/- with default stipulation for
committing the murder of victim-Archana.
3. Assailing the judgment dated 16th August, 2024, the
applicant has preferred Criminal Appeal No. 961 of 2024, which is
pending disposal before this Court.
4. The applicant is in jail. The present application has been
filed under Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
('Cr.P.C.' for short), with a prayer to suspend the jail sentence of the
applicant and also to release him on bail.
5. By referring to material on record, Mr. Vagal, learned
Counsel for the applicant, has argued that the incident had
occurred purely due to a quarrel between the accused and the
deceased leading to a scuffle between the two leading to the head
injury and her death. He submits that there was no premeditation
in this case and the death of the deceased was caused due to the
injuries sustained during the scuffle. Contending that this is a
clear case where the incident had occurred on a heat of passion
and without any premeditation, Mr. Vagal, learned Counsel for the
applicant, submits that this is a case of conversion of the conviction
of the applicant under Section 304-II of the IPC with reduced jail
sentence.
6. Mr. Vagal has further argued that the applicant is 24 years
old young man and after competing his B. Pharm, he is desirous of
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pursuing higher studies i.e. course of M.Pharma as well as a course
in Journalism. Moreover, during trial the applicant was on bail
granted by this Court, but he has not misused his liberty nor
violated the bail conditions. According to Mr. Vagal, there is also
no scope of the applicant absconding during pendency of the
appeal and his client will abide by any condition that is imposed by
the Court while granting bail. The learned Counsel has also
submitted the requisite documents in support of his above
arguments.
7. While opposing the submissions advanced by the learned
Counsel for the applicant, Ms. Rane, learned APP, has argued that
from the postmortem report, which shows 23 injuries on the body
of the victim, as well as from the testimony of PW-1, it is clear that
the accused had intentionally caused death to the deceased by
mercilessly assaulting her. Therefore, this is not a case of
conversion of conviction under Section 302 of the IPC and
reduced sentence. Contending that the life of a young girl has
been lost for no fault of her own, the learned APP has strongly
opposed the bail prayer.
8. We have considered the submissions made at bar and have
also carefully gone through the material on record. It is no doubt
correct that the postmortem report indicates as many as 23 injuries
on the body of the victim. However, from the evidence of PW-3
i.e. the doctor, who had conducted the postmortem examination,
it appears that the death was caused due to the combined effect of
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asphyxia due to manual strangulation (throttling), smothering and
cerebral damage due to blunt trauma on the head. There is
evidence available on record to show that there was a scuffle
between the accused and the deceased, which lead to the physical
assaults on the victim. It is possible that in the said process, the
deceased had hit her head against the wall and thus received fatal
head injury.
9. Be that as it may, from the evidence on record it appears that
the incident took place in the intervening night of 12 th January,
2021 and 13th January, 2021, on which day, the accused and the
victim had checked-in the Hotel City Palace at Nashik. The
accused was very well known to the victim as they were classmates
and apparently they had also developed a love affair. However, it
appears that the possibility of a third person getting involved in the
life of the victim had enraged the accused/applicant. It further
transpires from the evidence of PW-1 that on the afternoon of the
incident, at around 1:30 p.m. the accused had come to the victim
and protested against her involvement with another young man. It
has also come out from the evidence of PW-1 that after the accused
and the victim had checked-in to the hotel, the accused had
informed the PW-1 over phone that the victim is with him and if
the family members enquire about her, she should inform them
that the victim is with him.
10. From the above, what can be infered is that, there is a
strong possibility that the unfortunate incident leading to the
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tragic loss of life of a young woman, i.e., victim was the outcome
of a scuffle between the accused and the deceased, which might
have occurred under such circumstances wherein passion was
running very high between them due to the perceived notion of
involvement of another man in the life of the victim. Evidence on
record prima facie, do not indicate of any premeditation on the
part of the accused to cause death to the victim. The accused was
not trying to conceal the fact that the victim was with him just
prior to the incident.
11. It is no doubt correct that the presence of 23 injuries on the
body of the victim would paint a picture to show that the accused
had acted with some degree of cruelty. However, as noted above,
there is no evidence to indicate premeditation on his part. Rather,
the evidence on record indicates absence of premeditation.
Whether the evidence on record is sufficient to sustain the
conviction of the applicant under Section 302 of the IPC can be
assessed only at the time of final hearing of appeal, which is likely
to take some time. However, from a preliminary scrutiny of the
evidence, we are of the tentative opinion that the possibility of the
incident taking place in a heat of passion, without any
premeditation and due to a simmering tension between the
applicant and the victim pertaining to their love affair cannot be
completely ruled out in this case.
12. In addition to the above, we have taken note of the
submission of the learned Counsel for the applicant that
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considering the young age of the applicant, he be permitted to
pursue his higher studies. We have also noted that by an order
dated 19th January, 2024, passed in Bail Application No.1132 of
2024, the applicant was allowed to go on bail during the trial and
he has not violated the bail conditions. These circumstances also
favaourable weigh with us for considering the bail application filed
by the applicant.
13. For the above reasons, we are inclined to suspend the jail
sentence of the applicant and also to release him on bail. We,
however, make it amply clear that the observations made here-in-
above are prima facie in nature and shall not have any bearing
during the final hearing of the appeal.
ORDER
(a) The applicant- Tanmay Pravin Dhanva shall be
released on bail in connection with C.R. No. 11 of 2021
registered with Sarkarwada Police Station, Nashik
(Sessions Case No. 168 of 2021) on furnishing P .R.
bond of the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- with one or two
sureties in like amount, to the satisfaction of the learned
Trial Court.
(b) The applicant shall not leave the jurisdiction of
Nashik District without the prior permission of the trial
Court.
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(c) The applicant shall appear before the concerned
police station on the first Saturday or Monday of every
month in between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and record
his presence.
(d) The Applicant shall ensure due representation before
this court through his engaged counsel as and when the
connected appeal is taken up for hearing.
14. We make it clear that violation of any of the above
condition(s) may invite an order cancelling the bail granted by this
Court.
15. With the above observations, the Interim Application is
allowed and stands disposed of .
(SHYAM C. CHANDAK, J.) (SUMAN SHYAM, J.)
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