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Bombay High Court
Kamesh Alias Chhunilal Kawale vs The State Of Maharashtra Thr Pso., Ps ... on 15 April, 2026
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR
CRIMINAL APPLICATION (BA) NO. 379/2026
(Kamesh Alias Chhunilal Kawale Vs. State of Maharashtra)
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Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, Court's or Judge's orders
appearances, Court's orders of directions
and Registrar's orders
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Mr. A. N. Rangari, Advocate for applicant.
Ms. S. Haider, APP for non-applicant/State.
Mr. N. Tekade, Advocate assisting to prosecution.
CORAM: M. M. NERLIKAR, J.
DATED : 15/04/2026.
Heard.
2. By this application, the applicant is seeking regular
bail in connection with Crime No.453/2025 registered with
Police Station Rawanwadi, Dist. Gondia for the offence
punishable under Sections 103(1), 3(5), 238 of Bharatiya
Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 4, 25 of the Arms Act.
3. The brief facts of the prosecution story are that the
informant lodged a report stating that the informant is the
wife of deceased Vinod Deshmukh. It is alleged that on
19/08/2025 at about 3:00 p.m. her husband left the house
for going towards brick-kiln. He took his Unicorn
Motorcycle but he did not return home till night so
informant lodged a report about missing of her husband.
On 20/08/2025 at about 12:00 noon, dead body of the
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husband of informant was found in the bushes of the forest
beside the river near village Lambatola. On the basis of the
said allegations, the First Information Report was
registered against unknown persons alleging murder of her
husband by assaulting him on his head and neck by means
of sharp edged weapon.
4. The learned counsel for the applicant submits that
the case is based on the circumstantial evidence. There are
statements which shows that the applicant along with
accused No1 were returning from one place in the night.
However, it is submitted that these statements were
recorded at a belated stage and the entire story has been
cooked up by the Investigating Agency. So far as the call
between the applicant and accused No.1 one is concerned,
was relating to a general discussion about the incident and
nothing more can be inferred from the Call Details Record.
He further submits that so far as recovery is concerned, it
cannot be said to be a recovery under section 23 of the
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam ("BSA") as the said recovery
of the iron pipe was made from the motorcycle leg guard
attached to the motorcycle. The said motorcycle was
found at the spot and that was brought to the Police
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Station and in view of confessional statement of the
applicant, the recovery was made from that motorcycle and
so also of the burnt clothes found at brick-kiln. He submits
that this recovery will not be helpful to the prosecution to
connect the applicant with this crime. Merely on the basis
of motive, the applicant cannot be kept behind bars as the
prosecution has tried to bring on record the animosity
between the father of the applicant and the deceased.
Therefore, according to him, the prosecution has not
collected sufficient material to connect the applicant with
the alleged crime and he be released on bail.
5. On the other hand, the learned APP and the
learned counsel assisting prosecution vehemently oppose
the application and submitted that there are statements of
witnesses which specifically state that the present applicant
and the accused No.1 were returning from the spot of
incident and the witnesses were going towards the spot of
incident for searching he as the deceased was missing since
evening of 19/08/2025. They submitted that the witnesses
stopped the applicant and accused No.1, at that time, he
found the clothes having reddish spots. The mobile of the
applicant and accused No.1 were seized, wherein Agency
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have recovered the conversation between both of them
from Call Detail Record. According to them, the
conversation itself is sufficient to infer that they were
talking about the disposal of the weapon which was used
in the commission of the crime. They further invited my
attention to various statements which show that before two
days of the incident, the applicant had purchased chili
powder from one shop of Ramesh. It is supported by the
postmortem report, wherein chili powder was found in the
eyes of the deceased, therefore they submit that brutal
murder have been committed by the applicant and accused
No.1, the cause of death is head injury and there are near
about 15 and therefore injuries on the deceased, the
applicant does not deserve to be granted bail.
6. I have considered the rival submissions.
Admittedly, it appears from the postmortem report that the
cause of death is head injury and there are 15 injuries on
the deceased. It is not in dispute that the deceased died
due to injury Nos.1 and 2 mentioned in column No. 17
with internal damage mentioned in column No. 19. It
appears from the record that the deceased went to the
brickkiln in the morning for his work, however he did not
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return till late evening, therefore search was conducted.
Accordingly, in the midnight, the applicant and accused
No.1 were seen by witnesses that they were coming from
the spot of incident in the midnight and also noticed
reddish spots on the clothes of the applicant and accused
No.1. It is to be noted that all the statements are recorded
after 10 to 20 days, after the dead body was found. The
dead body was found on 20/08/2025, whereas, the
statements were recorded on 31/08/2025 and some of the
statements were recorded on 10/09/2025. There is no
explanation as to why at belated stage, the statements
were recorded. It is further to be noted that so far as the
recovery is concerned, at this stage, it cannot be believed
for the simple reason that the iron pipe which was
recovered, was attached to the motorcycle which was
brought by Police from the spot of incident and the
motorcycle belongs to the deceased. It is further to be
noted that there are no blood stains on the said iron pipe
and it was recovered on the basis of the disclosure
statement of the applicant recorded under Section 23 BSA.
So far as the conversation between the applicant and
accused No.1 is concerned, it is very difficult to infer
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anything from the said conversation. Under such
circumstances, I find that this is a fit case to grant bail as
investigation is complete and charge-sheet is filed, hence
the following order:-
ORDER
(i) Criminal application is allowed and disposed of.
(ii) The applicant/accused Kamesh Alias Chhunilal
Kawale be released on bail in connection with Crime
No.453/2025 registered with Police Station Rawanwadi,
Dist. Gondia for the offence punishable under Sections
103(1), 3(5), 238 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections
4, 25 of the Arms Act on his furnishing P.R. Bond of Rs.
25,000/- with one surety in the like amount.
(iii) The accused shall not directly or indirectly make
any inducement, threat or promise to any person
acquainted with the facts of the case, also shall not tamper
with the evidence.
(iv) The accused shall provide his residential address
and cell number to the concerned Police Station and shall
not change his place of residence without prior intimation
to the concerned Investigating Officer.
(v) The accused shall not enter into the village
Girola, Tah. Amgaon, Dist. Gondia.
(vi) The applicant/accused shall attend each and every
date of trial regularly. If he fails to attend the trial for two
consecutive dates or fails to comply with the aforesaid
conditions, his default would entail the State to ask for
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cancellation of bail.
7. The observation of this Court are prima facie in
nature and are only limited to this application. The Trial
Court shall not be influenced by the aforesaid observations.
( M. M. NERLIKAR, J.)
Gohane
Signed by: Mr. J. B. Gohane
Designation: PS To Honourable Judge
Date: 15/04/2026 19:07:24
