BALAJI PUNDLIK KENDREversusRAMESHWAR SHIVAJI KONDALWADE AND ANOTHER

2026:BHC-AUG:41866
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                                                                         948-BA-1254-2026

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                BENCH AT AURANGABAD

                           BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1254 OF 2026
                                         WITH
                         CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 3018 OF 2026
                                   IN BA/1254/2026

                          RAMESHWAR SHIVAJI KONDALWADE
                                       VERSUS
                       THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER
                                              .....
              Advocate for Applicant : Mr. Hanmant V. Patil
              APP for Respondent - State : Mr. V. K. Kotecha
              Advocate for Respondent No.2 : Mr. Bhupendra P. Thakare
                                              ..…

                                             CORAM : HITEN S. VENEGAVKAR, J.
                                             DATED : 9th SEPTEMBER 2026
              PER COURT :

              1.          This is an application seeking regular bail under

              Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

              (BNSS) in connection with Crime No. 078 of 2026, registered with

              Mukhed     Police   Station,   District    Nanded,   for    the   offences

              punishable under Sections 108, 64(1) and 3(5) of the BNS. The

              applicant is in custody since 7th April, 2026. The co-accused in the

              present offence has already been released on anticipatory bail. The

              investigation is complete and the charge sheet has also been filed.

              However, the learned APP submits that the handwriting expert's

              report pertaining to the suicide note is still awaited. The learned

              APP does not have any instructions as to when the handwriting

              expert's report will be available.
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2.         The prosecution case, in brief, is that the deceased

Savita was the wife of the informant Balaji Kendre. The informant

was cultivating agricultural land at village Ladga and the

agricultural field of the applicant's family was adjoining it.

According to the prosecution, there was an earlier dispute between

the informant and the applicant's father in relation to the removal

of residue of soybean crop. It is alleged that sometime in December

2025, when the deceased was in the agricultural field and her

husband was away, the applicant approached her from behind and

subjected her to forcible sexual intercourse. According to the

prosecution, the act was committed against the backdrop of the

aforesaid dispute. The deceased, however, did not disclose the

alleged incident to her husband or other family members during

her lifetime. The informant states that for about eight days

preceding her death, she appeared to be under tension but did not

disclose the reason despite being asked. In the early hours of 7 th

April, 2026, she committed suicide by hanging. The prosecution

witnesses had handed over a handwritten suicide note, which was

found on the body of the deceased, and the informant, in his

statement, has specifically stated that the handwriting in the

suicide note belongs to the deceased. The suicide note refers to the

applicant and narrates the alleged sexual assault and also refers to
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the earlier dispute concerning the soybean residue. The husband,

while lodging the report, has clarified this position. The

postmortem attributes the death to asphyxia due to hanging.



3.         Learned counsel appearing for the applicant submits

that the entire prosecution case concerning the alleged sexual

assault rests substantially upon the suicide note. The alleged

incident is of December 2025, whereas the suicide occurred on 7 th

April. 2026. During the intervening period, no complaint was

lodged and the deceased did not disclose the alleged assault to her

husband, children, relatives, police or any other person. There is

no   contemporaneous     medical      report   or   medical   evidence

pertaining to the sexual assault. The medical papers relied upon by

the prosecution pertain to treatment taken by the deceased in

February 2026 for an illness and do not, according to the applicant,

provide corroboration to the alleged allegation of rape. The record

shows laboratory investigation of the deceased in the month of

February 2026.



4.         It is further submitted that the handwriting expert's

report has not yet been received. The alleged discovery at the

instance of the applicant merely identifies the place where the

offence is said to have occurred and no incriminating article was
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recovered pursuant thereto. It is further contended that, so far as

Section 108 of the BNS is concerned, there is neither a proximate

act of instigation nor material showing the requisite mens rea. The

alleged sexual assault and the suicide are separated by about four

months. The applicant has no criminal antecedents. He is an

agriculturist with a wife and a young child, and with the

investigation   having    concluded,    his   further     custody     is

unwarranted. The learned counsel also relied upon the factor of the

previous dispute between the two families as a circumstance

requiring the prosecution evidence to be tested at the time of trial.



5.         The learned APP opposes the application. He submits

that the deceased herself had left behind the detailed note

specifically attributing the sexual assault to the applicant and

explaining why she did not disclose it to her husband. The husband

has identified the handwriting as that of his wife. Merely because

the expert report has not yet been received would not justify

discarding the note at the stage of bail. The prosecution further

relies upon the conduct of the deceased after the incident, the

treatment taken by her and the disclosure of the applicant of the

place of occurrence.



6.         Considering the gravity of the accusation under Section
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64(1) of the BNS and the fact that the applicant and the

prosecution witnesses belong to the same village, it is apprehended

that his release may result in intimidation of witnesses.



7.          The learned advocate appearing for respondent No. 2

also vehemently opposed the present application. Though he

accepted the arguments canvassed by the learned APP, he

additionally submitted that the suicide note, which is in the

handwriting of the deceased clearly mentions the name of the

present applicant and the allegation of a heinous offence being

committed at the hands of the applicant. The previous enmity is

the motive that will have to be taken into consideration at the stage

of bail. He further argued that once there is material available to

corroborate that the handwriting belongs to the deceased, then the

absence of the C.A. report at the stage of bail will have no

predicament to draw presumption or to draw an inference

contrary to the prosecution. He thus prayed that the application

for bail be rejected.



8.          I have considered the rival submissions and perused

the charge sheet.



9.          At the outset, the allegations concerning the offence
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                                                     948-BA-1254-2026

punishable under Section 64(1) of the BNS are undoubtedly

serious and the offence is undoubtedly heinous. The Court cannot,

at the stage of bail, undertake a meticulous evaluation of the

suicide note or record a finding regarding its genuineness. Equally

the Court cannot proceed on the footing that the allegations

contained therein stand conclusively established. The evidentiary

value, authorship and reliability of the document will have to be

determined and tested at the time of trial.



10.        The prosecution material nevertheless presents certain

features which assume significance for the limited purpose of bail.

The alleged sexual assault occurred sometime in December 2025.

The deceased continued to reside with her family thereafter, and

the suicide occurred on 7th April, 2026. There is presently no

material indicating that during this period she made any complaint

or disclosure concerning the alleged assault to any member of her

family, police or any other person. The prosecution relies

principally upon the suicide note for establishing the allegations of

sexual assault. There is no other contemporaneous medical

evidence relating to such assault.



11.        These circumstances are not sufficient at this stage to

disbelieve the prosecution case, particularly when the note itself
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purports to explain the silence of the deceased, but they are

relevant while considering whether continued incarceration of the

applicant pending trial is necessary.



12.        The separate consideration arises in relation to the

offences punishable under Section 108 of the BNS. Abetment

necessarily imports the ingredients contained in Section 45 of the

BNS. There must prima facie be material showing instigation,

conspiracy, or intentional aid coupled with the requisite mens rea.

The Hon'ble Supreme Court has reiterated that the act relied upon

as constituting instigation or incitement must bear a proximate

nexus with the suicide and must disclose an intention to drive or

encourage the deceased towards the result.



13.        Tested prima facie on the above principles, the material

presently placed before this Court does not disclose any act of the

applicant during the intervening period of approximately four

months whereby he instigated, threatened, incited or intentionally

aided the deceased to commit suicide. There is no material

indicating any contact between the applicant and the deceased

between December 2025 and 7th April, 2026, which could, at this

stage, constitute such instigation.
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                                                      948-BA-1254-2026

14.         The allegation of sexual assault is a grave and

independent accusation which will have to be tried on its own

evidence. However, commission of an offence against a person and

abetment of that person's subsequent suicide are distinct legal

accusations, and the latter requires the statutory ingredients of

abetment to be independently satisfied. On the present material,

therefore, the prosecution case under Section 108 requires closer

scrutiny at the time of trial.


15.         The reliance placed upon the disclosure statement of

the applicant identifying the alleged place of sexual assault also

cannot, by itself, justify continued detention. What evidentiary

value can be attached to such statement is a matter for trial.

Significantly, the applicant's own bail pleadings point out that

nothing was recovered pursuant to the disclosure. It would

therefore be inappropriate to treat the mere identification of the

place as incriminating material against the present applicant at

the stage when this Court is considering an application for bail.


16.         Another circumstance which deserves consideration is

that the investigation is now complete and the charge sheet has

been filed. The applicant has remained in custody since 7th April,

2026. His custodial interrogation is no longer required, and
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nothing is shown to remain to be recovered from him.


17.        The apprehension of the prosecution concerning the

witnesses who reside in the same village can be taken care of by

imposing stringent conditions against the applicant.


18.        I am conscious that the suicide note specifically names

the applicant and contains an accusation of sexual assault.

Therefore, nothing stated hereinabove should be understood as

expressing any final opinion regarding the authenticity or

truthfulness of that accusation. The prosecution would be entitled

to prove the note in accordance with law, and the trial court shall

evaluate the entire evidence, uninfluenced by these observations.


19.        However, having regard to the absence of any

contemporaneous     complaint   or     other   independent   material

presently showing corroboration concerning the alleged sexual

assault, the considerable interval between the alleged assault and

the suicide coupled with the absence of a proximate act of

instigation presently demonstrated for the purpose of Section 108

of the BNS, completion of investigation and filing of the charge

sheet, I am of the opinion that continued detention of the applicant

is not necessary and the applicant can be released on bail by

imposing certain conditions. Hence, the following order :
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                                                         948-BA-1254-2026

                                ORDER

(i)    The Bail Application is allowed.

(ii)   The applicant shall be released on bail in Crime No. 078 of
       2026, registered with Mukhed Police Station, District
       Nanded, for the offences punishable under Sections 108,
       64(1) and 3(5) of the BNS, on furnishing a personal bond of
       Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) with one solvent
       surety in the like amount, subject to the following conditions :

       a)    The applicant shall attend the trial Court on every date
             fixed, unless their attendance is specifically exempted.

       b)    The applicant shall not, directly or indirectly, contact,
             threaten, induce or influence the informant or any
             prosecution witness and shall not tamper with the
             prosecution evidence.

       c)    The applicant shall not enter Taluka Mukhed except for
             the purpose of attending the Investigating Officer and
             attending the trial court dates, till the evidence of the
             informant and other two cousin brothers of the
             deceased is recorded.


       d)    The applicant shall furnish his residential address at
             which he will reside outside the Mukhed Taluka after
             his release and mobile numbers to the Investigating
             Officer and the trial Court within seven days of release,
             intimate   any   change      forthwith,   and   attend   the
             Investigating Officer upon prior written notice if further
             investigation is required.
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          e)   The applicant shall not leave India without prior
               permission of the trial Court and, if they possess
               passports, shall deposit the same with the trial Court
               within seven days of their release.


          f)   The applicant shall not involve themselves in any
               offence of a similar nature while on bail.


          g)   Breach of any of the above conditions shall entitle the
               prosecution to apply for cancellation of bail.


          h)   All observations in this order are prima facie and
               confined to the decision of this bail application. The trial
               Court shall decide the case independently on the
               evidence led before it. The Bail Application is disposed
               of in the above terms.


          i)   In view of disposal of Bail Application, Criminal
               Application No. 3018 of 2026 is also disposed of.



                                            (HITEN S. VENEGAVKAR)
                                                   JUDGE




Tandale