The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to Tushar and Chetan Nimhan, the sons of former NCP corporator Tanaji Nimhan. They were convicted for the murder of Pratik Nimhan, the nephew of another former NCP corporator. The Nimhan brothers had been in custody since their arrest on April 14, 2023.

Convicted with co-accused Munna, they received life imprisonment under IPC sections 302 and 452 for the murder of Pratik Nimhan. They had been in custody since April 14, 2023.

Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Shyam C Chandak, part of a division bench, underscored that the applicants, Tushar and Chetan Nimhan, had already spent over 10 years and 10 months in incarceration. Consequently, the bench concluded that they were entitled to be released on bail during the pendency of their appeals.

The High Court's decision to grant bail to Tushar and Chetan Nimhan was grounded in recent orders and observations made by the Supreme Court.

In the case of Saudan Singh, the Supreme Court instructed the State of Uttar Pradesh to devise a policy to facilitate the release of convicts with pending appeals after prolonged incarceration. The Court specifically directed the Allahabad High Court and the State Government to compile a list of cases where individuals have completed 14 years of their sentence and their appeals have not been heard. This list is to be examined by a board for release. Notably, the Bombay High Court cited these circumstances in granting bail to the sons of a former Pune corporator convicted of murder, emphasizing their long incarceration despite pending appeals.

In the case of Suleman v. State of Uttar Pradesh, on March 25, 2022, the Supreme Court disagreed with the Allahabad High Court's decision to deny bail to the appellant. The appellant had already undergone 12 years of incarceration at the time of the Supreme Court's ruling.

The bail granted to the applicants in the Dinesh @ Paul Daniel Khajekar v. State of Maharashtra case involved a PR bond of Rs. 50,000 each, along with one or two solvent local sureties of the same amount. The court further directed the applicants to report to Chaturshringi Police Station in District Pune every first Monday of the month initially for a year, and later, every third month. The court specified that failure to comply with these conditions for two consecutive instances would empower the prosecution to file an application for the cancellation of bail.

Pratik Nimhan was murdered on April 12, 2013, in Pashan near a tennis court close to the first informant's bungalow. He and his friends were attacked, and during the trial, the sessions court found the Nimhan brothers guilty. The court held that the prosecution successfully established that, due to previous political rivalry, the Nimhan brothers, along with accomplice Munna, arrived armed with deadly weapons at the location. Subsequently, the Nimhan brothers fired upon Pratik, causing him to collapse in a pool of blood.

Their father, former corporator Tanaji Nimhan, faced legal consequences after being convicted for using forged bail documents to secure the release of Tushar and Chetan Nimhan from Yerawada central jail in November 2014. The revelation of this fraudulent activity led to the rearrest of the Nimhan brothers.

Tanaji Nimhan was released after serving a two-year term. His challenge to his conviction is pending before the Bombay High Court.

Advocates Abhijeet A Desai, Karan Gajra, Sanchita Sontakke, Digvijay Kachare, Vinay Singh, and Daksha Purghera represented the Applicants.

APP JP Yagnik represented the State.

Case no. – Interim Application No. 1325 of 2022

Case Title – Tushar Tanaji Nimhan & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra