MCOCA case: Bombay High Court grants bail to man with 24 chain snatching antecedents

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a man booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) after noting that the nearly two dozens of cases lodged against the accused are mostly for the offence of chain snatching [Dipak Mali vs State of Maharashtra]..Single-judge Justice Madhav Jamdar noted that the accused Dipak Mali has been in custody since June 5, 2021 and also that the charge sheet in this case of chain-snatching was filed on August 13, 2021."There is no progress in the trial and even the charges are also not framed yet. As per the chargesheet, there are 47 witnesses proposed to be examined by the prosecution. The trial is unlikely to conclude anytime soon and is likely to take a considerably long time," the judge noted.The Court dealt with the specific submission of the prosecution that the stringent MCOCA has been invoked against the applicant, the rigors of section 21 (4) of the Act will apply in the instant case as there are nearly 24 cases against him.Notably, Section 21(4) of MCOCA, mandates a court to record a finding that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is guilty or not guilty of the alleged offence and can likely commit or not similar offences while on bail. Taking note of the facts, Justice Jamdar said, "Although the provisions of the MCOCA have been invoked, all offences are of chain-snatching and therefore, primary facie the rigours of section 21(4) of the Act, will not apply," the judge held.As there are 24 antecedents of chain-snatching registered with various police stations in Pune district, the applicant has submitted that he would not reside in Pune and would rather shift to Ahmednagar, the Court noted in its order. The single-judge, therefore, granted bail to the applicant on a surety of ₹50,000. .The instant incident of chain-snatching took place on May 27, 2021 and subsequently a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against the applicant and others. He was arrested on June 5, 2021 and is in jail since then. Appearing for the applicant, advocate Sana Raees Khan highlighted that her client was only riding the motorcycle and did not himself snatch the alleged chain. She submitted that her client has been languishing in prison for over 3 years without there being any progress in the the trial as even the charges were yet to be framed. She further pointed out that though her client has been booked in 24 different cases for chain-snatching, he is out on bail in all the cases and there has been no conviction even in a single case. On the other hand, the prosecution pointed out that even the motorcycle which was used in the instant case was a stolen one. The prosecution heavily relied on the fact that the applicant had 24 antecedents. However, the Court took into account the fact that despite 3 years after lodging of the FIR and the filing of the chargesheet, there has been no progress in the trial.It, therefore, granted bail to the applicant. .Advocates Sana Raees Khan, Aditya Parmar, Abhijeet Singh and Ruchita Rajpurohit appeared for the accused. Additional Public Prosecutor SS Kaushik represented the State. .[Read Order]