Cri. Bail Application No.1710/2020

Rahul Vasudeo Kakad .. Applicant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra, (EOW) (Sarkarwada P.Stn.) .. Respondent

Order below Exh.1

1. The applicant has filed this application for bail under Section 439 of Cr. P.C. The applicant is prosecuted for the offence punishable u/s 120B, 406, 420, 467, 468, r.w. 34 of IPC vide C.R. No. I­177/2019 registered at Sarkarwada Police Station, Nashik, Dist. Nashik.

2. It is the case of the prosecution that :

One of the accused Aniruddha Avinash More was appointed as gold valuer by the informant bank Business Co­ Operative Bank. The said accused in collusion with the other accused who are the borrowers, pledged bogus gold jewelery with the bank and the said jewelery was certified as genuine gold by the main accused Aniruddha Avinash More. Against the said bogus gold the present applicant as well as other 28 accused obtained loan. However, various loan amount were not repaid and on making inquiry it was disclosed that the gold pledged with the Bank were not of gold. Accordingly, the said accused cheated the bank of an amount of more than Rs.4,47,00,000/­ (Rupees Four crores fourty seven lacs only).

Thereafter, on the report of Vishal Arun Dani, Branch Manager of Business Co. Op. Bank Ltd. M.G.Road, Nashik, aforesaid offence was registered.

3.The Ld. Advocate Shri.Ghumare submitted that the uncle of applicant Jagdish Kakad told the applicant that one doctor Vilas Kendre, Yogesh Balke and Aniruddha More were in need of money for 6 months and for the same loan has been sanctioned by Business Bank. The uncle of the applicant Jagdish Kakad asked the applicant to help them and to sigh certain documents. He further told that the said 3 persons would repay the loan amount alongwith interest.

Thereafter, they took the applicant to Business Bank and obtained his signature on certain documents. After sanction of the loan of Rs.20,00,000/­ the said amount was transferred from the account of the applicant to the account of Adgaonkar Saraf Pvt. Ltd. The Ld.

Advocate submitted that at no point of time the present applicant used the sanctioned loan amount and has even repaid the amount of Rs.5,00,000/­. The Ld. Advocate further submitted that the father of the applicant has also lodged complaint dated 03.12.2020 against Vilas Kendre, Yogesh Balke and Aniruddha More. The Ld. Advocate further submitted that the applicant works as driver and is the only earning member of the family. He is working as driver in a travel company. He is permanent resident of Nashik and does not have any antecedents. The Ld. Advocate accordingly submitted that the applicant be released on bail.

4.The Ld. A.P.P. submitted that the offence is serious in nature. The Ld. APP submitted that the present applicant in collusion with the valuer of the bank Aniruddha Avinash More pledged bogus gold ornament. The Ld. APP submitted that the present applicant obtained loan of Rs.19,90,000/­ from the Bank. He purchased gold worth Rs.19,90,000/­ in his name as well as in the name of her mother Urmila Vasudev Kakad and in the name of his cousin brother Mangesh Jagdish Kakad. The said gold was purchased from Aadgaonkar Saraf by transferring the amount to the account of Aadgaonkar Saraf through RTGS. The Ld. APP accordingly submitted that the loan obtained from the Bank against the bogus gold was used by the applicant and his family members to purchase gold.

5.The Ld. APP submitted that the present applicant in collusion with the valuer of the Bank Aniruddha Avinash More has in a very planned manner cheated the Bank of an amount of more than Rs.19,00,000/­. The Ld. APP further submitted that the present applicant is the part of the racket which involved other borrowers which has cheated the other more than Rs.4,47,00,000/­ (Rupees Four Crores Fourty Seven Lacs only). Accordingly, the learned APP accordingly, prayed for the rejection of the application.

6.In view of the facts mentioned in the application, following points arise for my determination and I have recorded my findings thereon for the reasons stated below :

POINTS FINDINGS
(1) Whether the applicant is entitled for bail ? .. No
(2) What order ? .. As per final order.

REASONS

7.I have perused the documents. Heard the Ld. Advocates appearing for the parties.

8.It is settled principle that while considering application for bail, court need not conduct preliminary trial of the case or consider probability of the guilt or innocence of the accused. While considering the application for bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of the accusations, the nature of the evidence in support thereof, severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character and standing of the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with and the larger interest of the public and State.

9.Perusal of the documents, show that around 29 borrowers have obtained loan from Business Co­Op.Bank by pledging bogus gold.

The said bogus gold was certified to be genuine by valuer of the Bank Aniruddha Avinash More, who is also one of the accused.

10.Perusal of the documents further show that initially monthly installments towards repayment of the loan were paid by the borrowers and thereafter, they defaulted. In fact, in certain cases, after a year also the loan was renewed and more loan was obtained against the same bogus gold.

11.During the investigation, after default of certain borrowers, while taking steps to sell the pledged gold, it was discovered that the same was bogus. In fact, thereafter, on further investigation by the Bank, it was disclosed that most of the gold pledged by the defaulting borrowers, which were certified as genuine by Aniruddha More was bogus.

12. During the investigation, it was disclosed that around 29 of the borrowers including the valuer Aniruddha Avinash More have obtained loan to the extent of more than Rs.4,47,00,000/­ (Rupees Four Crores Fourty Seven Lacs only) by pledging bogus gold.

13. Perusal of the documents including the report filed by the investigation officer shows that the present applicant as well as the other borrowers in collusion with the valuer of the Bank Aniruddha Avinash More have cheated the Bank of more than Rs.4,47,00,000/­ (Rupees Four Crores Fourty Seven Lacs only). The said cheating and the fraud played on the Bank was done in a very planned manner.

14. Perusal of the investigation papers show that statement of Sagar Madhukar Aadgaonkar was recorded on 11.11.2020 wherein he has stated that during 2016­2017 present applicant visited his shop and purchased gold worth Rs.19,90,000/­ by transferring the amount by way of RTGS. The said gold was purchased in the name of applicant and his family members. Although Ld. Advocate submitted that the present applicant was cheated by his uncle Jagdish Kakad and 3 others, but except complaint dated 03.12.2020 there is nothing on record to show that any action was taken against the said persons by the present applicant. Perusal of the documents show that investigation is still going on.

15. Accordingly, as discussed herein above considering the role of the applicant and the nature of the offence, in my opinion, at this stage, the applicant is not entitled to be released on bail. Hence I pass the following order :

ORDER

The application is rejected.

Digitally signed by Santoshkumar Santoshkumar Tribhuandutt Pandey Tribhuandutt Date: 2020.12.09 Pandey 16:08:51 +0530 (S.T. Pandey) Nashik. Dist. Judge­4 and Date : 09­12­2020. Addl. Sessions Judge, Nashik.