Bombay High Court Grants 45 Days Temporary Bail To MCOCA Accused On Ground Of Family Member’s Illness

Pune, 9th September 2021: A landmark judgment has come from the Bombay High Court wherein a temporary bail application of the accused namely Mangesh Sham Satpute arrested by Khadak Police Station, Pune city police, for the offence of kidnapping and extortion and MCOCA, has been approved.

Justice Prithiviraj Chavan was hearing the said bail application. Adv. Zaid Anwar Qureshi and Adv. Ibrahim Abdul Shaikh was appearing for the accused. The matter came up on board on Saturday before the Court wherein the arguments were advanced by Advocates on merits of the matter as well as on medical grounds.

It was contended by the advocates that the accused is behind bars for six years and his mother is suffering from the last stage of cancer, the condition of the mother is not good. The provisions of MCOCA though has no provision for temporary bail but there is even no express bar from granting the temporary bail under MCOCA, they submitted.

The court heard both sides and concluded that the accused is entitled to temporary bail and he should be released on temporary bail for 45 days on furnishing two sureties before the trial court and on certain terms and conditions expressly prescribed by the Bombay High Court.

It is one of the most important development in the provisions of MCOCA wherein the Act was passed in the year 1999 and since then there is not a single temporary bail which was allowed on the ground of illness of the family member, hence we hope that this precedent will not be misused but will be utilized for actual persons in need, the advocates said.

Adv Ashraf Akhtar Shaikh and Adv Afroz Ibrahim Shaikh assisted the senior lawyers in the case.