Pune: Bombay High Court Grants Interim Protection in APS Wealth Ventures Fraud Case to Three Women Accused
Pune/Nagpur, July 13, 2025: In a significant relief, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to three women accused in a multi-crore investment fraud case linked to APS Wealth Ventures LLP, a Pune-based financial firm.
The interim protection was granted in connection with an anticipatory bail application related to an FIR registered at Khadan Police Station in Akola. The applicants—Asha Datta Chavhan, Khushboo Pranay Pawar, and Rukhmina Arjun Rathod—approached the High Court after their earlier anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Additional Sessions Judge, Akola, on June 23, 2025.
The FIR, lodged on April 12, 2025, invokes Sections 406, 420, 506, read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, alleging financial fraud and breach of trust involving alleged inducement to invest ₹89.5 lakh. The primary accused are said to be the promoters of APS Wealth Ventures LLP.
Representing the applicants, Advocate Aashuutosh Srivastava argued that the FIR was a misuse of the legal process, filed with malicious intent to exert pressure on the family members of the primary accused. He submitted that the three women applicants—including senior citizens and homemakers—had no role in the company’s operations, never interacted with the complainant, and shared no fiduciary relationship with him.
On July 11, 2025, Justice Urmila S. Joshi Phalke of the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench, after hearing preliminary arguments, granted interim relief to the applicants and directed the State of Maharashtra to file its reply. The court has scheduled the matter for further hearing.
Following the court’s decision, Advocate Srivastava stated, “The Court has rightly recognized that criminal law should not be misused to settle civil or commercial disputes, especially by dragging uninvolved family members into litigation. The interim protection reinforces the constitutional right to personal liberty and guards against arbitrary arrest.”
