The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to a 19-year-old accused, who, along with his friends, bludgeoned two men to death in Pune in 2021.
A bench of Justice Madhav Jamdar noted that Shinde had been in custody for over three years while the trial against the accused had not even started. The charges in the case were yet to be framed, and the prosecution had proposed to examine 49 witnesses to meet the burden of proof against the accused.
“The applicant is a young man aged 19 years and there are no antecedents. Accordingly, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail,” said Justice Jamdar while granting bail.
Advocate Sana Raees Khan appearing for Shinde pointed out that there are contradictions in the statements of eyewitnesses. She noted that one of the eyewitnesses stated that Shinde was holding a sickle, while another stated that he was holding a stone.
The advocate also argued that the FIR attributes no role to the accused, and says that he was only present there.
Khan also pointed out that most of the accused in the case have already been granted bail except for Shinde and 22-year-old Mahesh Bhagwat – the two primarily accused of the crime.
Yuvraj Shinde, the teen who was granted bail, had allegedly confronted the duo along with his friends on the night of July 4, 2021 and assaulted the men with swords, sticks, sickles and stones, leading to their deaths.
According to the prosecution, the men who died had verbally abused some of the accused, following which the accused killed the men. The 19-year-old and the other accused would often get into spats with the duo over a two-year-old brawl.
Rajeshree Newton, the public prosecutor, vehemently opposed the bail plea stating that the victims had been mercilessly assaulted, which is reflected in the statements of witnesses and even in the post-mortem reports.
While granting bail to the 19-year-old, the bench observed that many witnesses hailed from the Daund area of Pune district, and hence, directed Shinde to not enter the area except to report to the investigating officer. Shinde has been directed to stay in a neighbouring area in Baramati.