TUKARAM NARAYAN KINIversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER

2026:BHC-AUG:40180
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                         IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                    BENCH AT AURANGABAD

                               2 BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1165 OF 2026

                                         Tukaram Narayan Kini
                                                VERSUS
                                 The State Of Maharashtra And Another
                                                  ...
               Mr. Ajinkya Reddy - Advocate for Applicant
               Mr. K. K. Naik - APP for the State
                                                  …

                                       CORAM :      HITEN S. VENEGAVKAR, J.
                                       DATED :      31ST AUGUST, 2026

               ORAL ORDER :


               1.          Heard learned Advocate for the Applicant and the learned

               APP for the State.



               2.          In addition to the oral submissions, the learned Advocate

               also tendered written notes of arguments on behalf of the Applicant.

               Upon a specific query as to whether the written notes of arguments

               contained anything in addition to what had been canvassed orally by the

               learned Advocate for the Applicant, he submitted that everything

               contained in the written notes has already been orally argued and that

               nothing remained to be argued.



               3.          The entire investigation report, prepared upon completion

               of the investigation, has been annexed to the present application.
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Therefore, with the assistance of both the learned Counsel, I have

perused the entire record.



4.            The present application seeks regular bail in connection

with C.R. No. 0053/2026 registered with Udgir City Police Station,

District Latur, for the offences punishable under Sections 74, 351(2),

351(3), and 333 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Sections 8, 10,

and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012,

and Section 92(b) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

The Applicant was arrested in connection with the aforesaid crime on

02.03.2026.



5.            It is the case of the Prosecution that the present Applicant

and the mother of the Victim were acquainted with each other and,

therefore, during the initial days of their acquaintance, the Applicant

had access to the house of the Victim. The mother of the Victim is

separated from her husband and, therefore, has been residing with her

daughters in her mother's house for several years. The informant in the

present case is the grandmother of the Victim, who, at the relevant time,

was at home and had gone to a neighbouring person's house for some

work when the alleged incident took place. The informant has alleged

that, on 02.03.2026, when she was away from the house for some work,

her two granddaughters were present in the house. Upon her return, she

found the present Applicant standing outside the door. Upon inquiry, he
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informed her that he had come to hand over garlands of Holy to the

children. Upon that, the informant categorically told the Applicant that

he should not come home as her granddaughters are alone in the house.

When the informant went inside the house, the Victim was profusely

crying and therefore upon making inquiry, the Victim, who is deaf and

dumb, narrated the incidence of sexual harassment caused to her by the

Applicant. It is alleged that, by means of hand signs, she informed the

Complainant that the Applicant had entered the house, given money to

her sister, and asked her to go to the shop. After the sister had left, the

Applicant started kissing her and fondling her chest. The informant also

alleged that, thereafter, the Victim removed her T-shirt and showed the

abrasions allegedly caused by the Applicant on her chest. Upon making

further inquiries with the Victim, she informed the Complainant that the

Applicant had threatened her that, in case she disclosed the incident to

anybody in the house, he would kill her. Thereafter, the Complainant

immediately informed the mother of the Victim about the incident over

the telephone. Subsequently, the incident was reported to the police, and

an offence came to be registered as C.R. No. 0053/2026 with Udgir City

Police Station, District Latur, for the aforesaid offences.



6.           During the course of the investigation, the statement of the

mother was recorded, wherein she categorically stated that she and the

Applicant had been acquainted with each other for the last several years.
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However, she had ceased to remain in contact with him for more than

two years prior to the date of the incident. She also stated that, as

flooring work was being carried out in her house, she had placed an

order for tiles. The tiles were delivered in a small auto-rickshaw, and the

present Applicant was one of the persons who assisted in unloading and

carrying the tiles from the auto-rickshaw into her house. The mother

thereafter narrated the incident as it had been informed to her by the

Complainant.



7.           The learned Advocate for the Applicant vehemently argues

that this is a case where there are no independent witnesses in support

of the Prosecution's case. He submits that, despite there being an

opportunity available to the Prosecution to record the statement of an

independent witness, the Prosecution has failed to record any such

statement. He relies upon the spot panchanama to submit that there are

residential houses surrounding the house of the Victim and that the

alleged incident took place in broad daylight. He thus submits that, it

cannot so happen that the neighbors were unaware about the incident.

He thereafter argued that, the injuries that are alleged to have been

found on the chest of the Victim are not the injuries that can be caused

by nails. He refers to Injury Certificate of the Victim and submits that

the nature of injury is abrasion on the left breast and the weapon that is

used to cause simple injury is hard and blunt. According to him, human
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nails cannot be termed as hard and blunt. He thus submits that, even

the injury does not support the case of the prosecution. Thereafter, he

relied upon the school certificate annexed in the Charge-sheet to

submits that the school in which the victim is studying is the school for

normal children and not for the children with physical disability. Thus,

this falsifies the prosecution story that the Victim is physically disabled.



7.1.         He further argues that, the Victim is unable to understand

special language of signs. In order to substantiate his submissions, he

relies upon the statement recorded of the Victim. He submits that, the

statement dated 25.03.2026 mentions that, a communication was

established with the Victim on the basis of the special language but the

statement of the expert dated 25.03.2026 categorically mentions that

the Victim does not have basic and fundamental knowledge about the

special language. He thus submits that the statement of the Victim is

false and cannot be relied upon.



7.2.         He further submits that, the Chemical Analyzer’s report

pertaining to he nail clippings is still awaited.



7.3.         He then argues that the Applicant and the mother of the

Victim had been in a live-in relationship for several years and that the

Applicant has been falsely implicated only because his relationship with

the mother of the Victim had ended on account of the Applicant's
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intention to marry another woman. He places reliance upon the

statement of the informant, wherein she has categorically stated that her

daughter has been residing separately from her husband for the last nine

years. Secondly, the learned Advocate places reliance upon the

statement of the mother of the Victim, wherein she has categorically

stated that she was acquainted with the Applicant as a friend. He thus

submits that the present Applicant has been falsely implicated in the

present offence. He further submits that the Applicant has been in Jail

since 02.03.2026 and that, as the Charge-sheet has already been filed

and the investigation has been completed, no further custodial

interrogation is required. He therefore submits that the Applicant's

continued custody is unwarranted and prays for his release on bail.



8.          Per contra, the learned APP for the State argues that the

Victim is aged about 13 years and is a person with a physical disability,

whereas the Applicant is 27 years old. He submits that the allegations

are grave, serious, and heinous in nature where a minor girl who is

physically disabled has been subjected to sexual harassment by the

present applicant. He argues that there are specific allegations made by

the minor Victim as to how and when the sexual assault and harassment

were caused to her at the hands of the present Applicant. The

allegations have been sufficiently corroborated by the statements of the

informant and the mother of the Victim and, more importantly, by the
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statement of the minor Victim herself. He further argues that the

allegations are substantiated by the Injury Certificate of the Victim,

wherein the injuries sustained by her on the parts of the body where the

alleged sexual assault and harassment took place have been clearly

mentioned. He submits that there is no reason for the minor Victim to

falsely implicate the present Applicant in an offence of such nature. He,

therefore, submits that the present Application be dismissed.



9.           I have perused the entire record and considered the

submissions advanced by the learned Advocate for the Applicant as well

as the learned APP for the State. Before proceeding to decide the present

Application on the merits of the allegations and the prosecution case, it

is necessary to place on record that the submission of the learned

Advocate for the Applicant that the Applicant was in a live-in

relationship with the mother of the Victim, and his attempt to place

certain photographs of them on record in support thereof, cannot be

accepted at this stage. At the stage of considering an application for bail,

the Court is required to arrive at a prima facie conclusion on the basis of

the material collected during the investigation and cannot take into

consideration anything beyond the scope of such investigative material.

To some extent, these documents could have been considered by this

Court if it were established that the Applicant or any of his family

members had made even a remote attempt to submit these documents
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to the Investigating Agency for verification and consideration during the

course of the investigation. As on date, even upon a specific query raised

to the learned Advocate for the Applicant, there is nothing on record to

show that these documents were ever tendered or furnished to the

Investigating Officer so as to enable him to consider the same during the

course of the investigation. Thus, the entire defence sought to be raised

to establish that the Applicant has been falsely implicated on account of

the severance of his relationship with the mother of the Victim is being

canvassed before this Court for the first time. Such a defence will have

to be raised before the Trial Court and established on the basis of

evidence. The Bail Court cannot proceed to consider such a defence at

the stage of deciding an application for bail.



10.          Admittedly, the Victim is a minor girl aged 13 years. Though

the learned Advocate for the Applicant has submitted that the Victim is

studying in a regular school and, therefore, is neither deaf and dumb

nor physically disabled, he could not place any reliable document on

record in support of his contention. On the contrary, the statements of

the witnesses, as well as the statement of the Victim, who was examined

by the expert and whose statement was also recorded before the Special

Teacher of Samuha Sadhan Kendra, Taluka Udgir, District Latur, are

corroborated by the disability certificate of the Victim. The said

certificate supports the case of the Prosecution that the Victim is
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physically disabled and is unable to hear and speak.      Even if we keep

aside the statement of the grandmother and the mother of the Victim,

still the statement of the Victim herself makes out a prima facie case

against the present Applicant wherein she has specifically narrated the

entire incident as to how she was subjected to sexual assault and

harassment at the hands of the present Applicant.         The Victim was

specifically shown a photograph of the present Applicant, whom she

identified as one who has caused sexual assault and harassment to the

Victim on the date of incident. The alleged incident took place inside

the house of the Complainant, when the Victim was alone in the house

and her sister had been sent out by the Applicant himself on the pretext

of purchasing certain goods from the shop. Thus, there could not have

been any eyewitness to the incident. The submission of the learned

Advocate that the statements of the neighbouring witnesses ought to

have been recorded merely because their houses are situated around the

Complainant's house cannot, by itself, be sufficient to disbelieve the

prosecution case at this stage. The Injury Certificate placed on record by

the Investigating Officer also indicates the nature of the injury caused to

the chest of the Victim allegedly at the hands of the present Applicant.

The submission of the learned Advocate that such injury is not possible

by nails is a subject of trial and at this stage, prima facie the injury

certificate supports the allegation of the Victim that the sexual assault

was caused by the present Applicant on her chest due to which she has
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suffered injuries. Another submission of the learned Advocate for the

Applicant, that the Victim does not understand the special language and,

therefore, that the statement recorded by communicating with the

Victim through the special language cannot be relied upon, is also a

submission that cannot be considered at the stage of bail. It is the

submission of the learned Advocate that she does not understand the

special language but the statement categorically records that she is able

to communicate by showing hand signs and with the help of such

communication, the statement has been recorded. There is nothing on

record to indicate why the statement of the 13-year-old minor Victim

should be disbelieved. Merely because the CA report is still awaited, or

because, as submitted by the learned Advocate, the Trial Court is

presently vacant, cannot constitute ground for releasing the present

Applicant on bail in such a heinous offence. The Applicant was arrested

on 02.03.2026, and the period of custody undergone by him till date

cannot be said to be disproportionate to the offences alleged against

him. The offence under Section 8 of the POCSO Act is punishable with

imprisonment for a term of not less than three years, which may extend

to five years, the offence under Section 10 is punishable with

imprisonment for a term of not less than five years, which may extend to

seven years, and the offence under Section 12 is punishable with

imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years.
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                             11.         In the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, the

                             present Application stands dismissed.



                             12.         Needless to state, the observations made in the present

                             order are prima facie in nature and are confined solely to the

                             consideration of the present bail application. The Trial Court shall

                             conduct the trial on its own merits and in accordance with law.




                                                                     [ HITEN S. VENEGAVKAR ]
                                                                              JUDGE

                             SG Punde




Signed by: Sandeep Gulabrao Punde
Designation: PS To Honourable Judge
Date: 03/09/2026 17:06:40