Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a woman and her paramour for alleged conspiring to kill her husband in 2018, citing prolonged incarceration of nearly seven years without conclusion of trial.
Justice Milind Jadhav granted bail to Asha Gaikwad and Raj Singh, noting that only 8 out of 51 prosecution witnesses have been examined so far. “The trial is progressing at a snail’s pace and completion in the near foreseeable future is a distinct impossibility,” the court observed.
Gaikwad and Singh were arrested on June 1 and July 5, 2018, respectively. They approached HC through Advocate Shriganesh Sawalkar seeking bail citing long incarceration and no chance of conclusion of trial in the near future.
The prosecution alleges that Gaikwad, upset over a land dispute and having an affair with co-accused Singh, paid him Rs 3 lakh to orchestrate her husband’s murder. Singh allegedly aided in the crime along with five others. Gaikwad is accused of first stupefying her husband before handing him over to co-accused who then killed him.
Advocate Niranjan Mundargi, appearing for the deceased’s family, opposed the bail plea, arguing that the Supreme Court had already rejected Gaikwad’s earlier application. “Filing a fresh plea now without any change in circumstances amounts to forum shopping,” he said.
However, the court emphasised the right to personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. “No matter how serious the alleged crime is, the right to speedy trial cannot be ignored,” the judge said, adding that “detaining an under-trial for such an extended period violates this fundamental right.”
The judge also noted prison overcrowding, citing a December 2024 report which said that Arthur Road Jail is housing five to six times its sanctioned capacity.
Referring to bail granted earlier this month to co-accused Rahul Mhatre on similar grounds, the judge said: “The principle rule is that bail is the rule and refusal is the exception.”
The court allowed the bail solely on grounds of long incarceration and delay in trial. “Detaining an under-trial for long only serves to legitimise surrogate punishment without trial,” the court remarked. Both applicants are to be released on furnishing personal bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
