HC grants bail to 3 accused in quadruple murder case

Bombay High Court granted bail to three accused in 2011 Kurar murders due to 13 years of pre-trial incarceration and trial delays, despite serious charges.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday granted bail to the three accused in the Kurar quadruple murders of June 2011, primarily on account of their long pre-trial incarceration for 13 years and the fact that the trial was not likely to be completed within a reasonable period, despite being at an advanced stage.

HC grants bail to 3 accused in quadruple murder case

The murders came to light on June 6, 2011, when partially burnt bodies of the victims – Chetan Dhule (24), Ganesh Karanje (24), Bharat Kudle (27) and Dinesh Ahire (26) - were discovered in the deserted hills behind Kurar village in Malad East.

The prosecution alleged that the three accused - Rohit Gangasagar Verma, Prakash Manohar Sharma and Bhonu alias Bhola Rambahadur Chaubey - abducted the four victims, murdered them, disfigured their faces to make their identification difficult, and burnt the bodies to destroy evidence. They were allegedly members of the Uday Pathak gang.

Their lawyer sought bail for them, submitting that the proceedings had been paused since August 2023, due to an ongoing MCOCA case. This, according to the counsel, left the accused in a pre-trial incarceration, and they have already suffered incarceration for over 13 years.

Assistant public prosecutor Tanveer Khan opposed the bail plea by pointing out that the trial was nearing the end, and the statements of the accused and the material on record sufficiently indicated their involvement in the heinous crime.

The court, presided over by justice Manish Pitale, however, noted the unjustifiable delay in completing the trail and stated that it conflicted with the rights enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India (protection of life and personal liberty).

As regards the nature of the crime, the court said the seriousness of the offences faced by the under-trial accused cannot be a consideration for denying them relief, when it is found that they have already suffered long incarceration, and the trial is still pending.

The court also noted that the trio had no criminal antecedents and granted them conditional bail.