MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday rejected a fresh bail plea filed by alleged gangster Jagdish Kailash Shejav also known as Dhananjay Shinde, in the 2012 Oshiwara murder of an unidentified man. Shinde is an accomplice of Vijay Palande, accused of committing several murders. The court said there was “no significant change in circumstances” since his earlier bail plea was rejected and noted that the trial is at the “threshold of being concluded”.
Justice Neela Gokhale noted that a co-ordinate bench had dismissed Shinde’s previous bail plea on August 25 last year and that the order “remains unchallenged”. Since then, the court observed that the prosecution’s evidence and the accused’s statement have been recorded and only the defence witnesses remain to be examined. In these circumstances, the court said it was “not a fit case to grant bail”.
The court also took note of Shinde’s criminal antecedents. The prosecution pointed out that while serving life imprisonment in an earlier murder case, he was granted 14 days’ parole in February 2010 but failed to surrender and “remained at large for 767 days”.
During this period, the state alleged, he committed multiple murders. Although he was later acquitted in the earlier case, three cases registered while he was absconding remain pending. The high court specifically referred to his “propensity… to abscond” while rejecting the plea.
The current case stems from a series of killings uncovered in 2012. The investigation into the murder of Delhi-based businessman Arunkumar Tikku led the Oshiwara police to the killing of aspiring film producer Karan Kakkad. During the probe, police recovered a human skull and bones from Kumbharli Ghat near Chiplun.
Forensic tests revealed that while some remains matched Kakkad’s DNA, the skull did not, leading to the registration of a separate murder case of an “unknown person” at Oshiwara police station. The prosecution has alleged that the accused dismembered and disposed of human remains to destroy evidence.
Shinde has been in custody since August 16, 2012. His counsel argued that he has spent over 13 years in jail and that the trial may not conclude soon, as co-accused Vijay Palande intends to examine several defence witnesses. Earlier this week, Palande moved the sessions court seeking to summon police commissioner Deven Bharti and senior forensic experts as defence witnesses, claiming that crucial aspects of the investigation and forensic handling in the case need to be tested during trial.
In his bail plea, Shinde described the case as based entirely on circumstantial evidence and alleged inconsistencies in forensic findings. He denied being present at the crime scene and claimed that the chargesheet and witness depositions contain contradictions. He also argued that despite nearly 14 years as an undertrial prisoner, no prima facie case is made out against him.
Referring to a recent Supreme Court ruling, the high court said that once a trial has commenced, it should be allowed to reach its logical conclusion, and that granting bail at an advanced stage may impact appreciation of evidence. Prolonged incarceration alone, the court held, would not justify release when the trial is nearing completion.
“Considering the stage of trial; the fact that the bail application of the applicant was rejected by this court on merits only five months ago; the propensity of the applicant to abscond… and his antecedents… I am not inclined to allow the present application,” the court said.