2 judgments on one anticipatory bail plea

Nagpur, Feb 24

The sessions court has given two different judgments on two different dates on a single anticipatory bail application. In one judgment the two accused were granted anticipatory bail, while the other judgment refused bail to the culprits. The Bombay High Court has taken serious congnizance of the issue and warned that this incident can lead to distrust of people on judiciary.

The HC also directed the principal district sessions judge to hear the case afresh and issue the judgment within seven days. The matter was heard by Justice Rohit Deo.

The accused Prakash Gaikwad and Neeraj Soni had applied for anticipatory bail in the sessions court in the Arun Kotangle suicide case of Jariptatka. The sessions court had rejected the application on September 13, 2019 and then granted bail on January 3, 2020 on the same application.

Due to this wife of Arun Kotangle, Vidya filed an application through her lawyers Ramesh Rawlni and Atul Rawlani in high court. In her petition she had requested to dismiss the erroneous judgment pronounced on January 3, 2020 and brought to high court’s notice the judgement of September 13, 2019.

The high court ordered the principal district sessions judge on January 21, 2021 to look into the matter and check the claim made by Vidya Kotangle. The judge found merit in Vidya’s claim and the high court quashed the order passed on January 3, 2020.