Full Order Text
Final Order 1 · 22 Apr 2026 · CNR MHMM190103102018
Order Details: Copy of Judgment Pdf Text: Judgment 1 C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 C/S filed on : 16/08/2018 Registered on : 16/08/2018 Decided on : 22/04/2026 Duration : 07 Y 08 M 06 D Exh. 12. IN THE COURT OF THE JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE (F.C.) 10TH COURT, ANDHERI, MUMBAI. (PRESIDED OVER BY S.G.AGRAWAL) C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 (C.R.No. 49/2018) (C.N.R.No. MHMM19-010310-2018) J U D G M E N T (u/Sec. 355 of Cr.P.C.) (a) The serial number of the case. : C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018. (b) The date of the commission of the offence. : On 28/03/2018 (c) The name of the Informant. : The State (Jogeshwari Police Station in C.R. No. 49/2018) (d) The name of the accused person and their parentage and residence; : 1) Vinod Deepak Dattawani 2) Pradip Majavirprasad Bageria, 3) Ramjan Kamluddin Badnpura, 4) Pramod Parasmal Sisodiya, 5) Sunil Bansilal Mantri 6) Vijay Arun Joshi 7) Raju Bhojraj Daryani 8) Gyanchand Manikchand Jain -- 1 of 7 -- Judgment 2 C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 9) Ravindrakumar Vitthalrao Mungapathi (A.Nos. 1 to 9 absconding) 10) Miten Vinod Dalal 11) Rajesh Purnamal Agrawal 12) Pankaj Bhavarlal Jain 13) Niraj Navratan Hiran 14) Sham shantilal Samdani 15) Mithun Jayant Vora 16) Mehul Mahendra Mehta 17) Suresh Bhoja Poojari 18) Saurabh Navin Jain 19) Nitin Rajendra Jhar 20) Moin Iqbal Hussain 21) Kumar Vijay Karmakar 22) Fettemohd. Chand Pardeshi 23) Rajan Suryabhan Singh 24) Prasanna Lakhan Shetty 25) Chaturdhan Dungar Sahu 26) Ratikant Govind Kanak (A.Nos. 12 to 26 absconding) 27) Ashok Monta Shetty 28) Santosh Janardhan Poojari 29) Damodar Krishnakaran Shetty 30) Mahua Kishor Singh 31) Surekha Mahajan Singh 32) Guruprir -- 2 of 7 -- Judgment 3 C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 Makkhansing Kaur 33) Disha Ashok Singh (A.Nos. 28 to 33 absconding) 34) Mahi Prabhudayal Yadav (Pleaded guilty) 35) Poonam Suresh Chandra 36) Varsha Rajesh Singh 37) Astha Anil Malhotra 38) Kamini Suresh Singh 39) Rashmiyar Ramesh Pariyar 40) Saba Abdul Sattar (A.Nos. 35 to 40 absconding) (e) The offence complained of : Under Section 294 r/w 34 of IPC (f) The plea of the accused and their examination. : Accused pleaded not guilty. (g) The final order : Accused Nos. 10, 11 and 27 are acquitted. (h) The date of such order : 22/04/2026 (i) Brief statement of reasons : As recorded herein below. Assistant Public Prosecutor : Shri. F. L. Shaikh. The Ld. Advocate for accused : Shri. Shetty. JUDGMENT (Delivered on 22/04/2026) The prosecution was required to prove that the accused before the Court i.e. Miten Dalal and Rajesh Agarwal as well as the -- 3 of 7 -- Judgment 4 C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 accused whose trial has been separated had made obscene gestures in Lotus Bar & Restaurant and the accused Ashok Shetty being the Manager has supported the customers and committed offence p/u/s. 294 of the IPC. 3. The accused have pleaded innocence and trial commenced. The statement of accused u/Sec. 313 of Cr.P.C. is recorded wherein they had stuck to their defence of total denial and false implication. 4. Heard Ld. APP for State and Ld. Advocate for the accused. 5. The prosecution has examined only testimony of PSI Gajanan Vinayakrao Bharati who was attached to Crime Branch Unit No.III. The prosecution failed to record evidence of panch witnesses and also other prosecution witnesses despite ample opportunities. It is the matter of record that the panch witness Sohail Sayyed has been reported dead and another panch was reported as not traceable as per report dated 13/01/2025. 6. PSI Gajanan Vinayakrao Bharati (PW1) has stated on oath that on 28/03/2018 along-with Sr.PI Jagdish Sai, they have raided Lotus Bar & Restaurant located at Andheri (E), informing the panch witnesses before hand and was given 4 currency notes of denomination Rs. 50/-. According to him, PC Shinde and the panch witnesses entered the bar and after receiving signal from them, the team of crime headed by Gajanan Bharati went inside the restaurant. Upon entering the restaurant he saw 11 girls dancing on the floor who were making obscene gestures and were trying to be closed with the customers. He -- 4 of 7 -- Judgment 5 C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 further stated that there were 16 customers present in the bar who were instigating those 11 girls to dance and make obscene gestures by offering them amount. He further stated that he found Rs. 50/- currency notes given to panch witness Ansari in possession of Gurmeet Kaur. He seized the same as well as the cash amount from the counter. After concluding the raid, he lodged FIR on behalf of State. 7. While under cross examination he admitted that Lotus Bar & Restaurant having permit to run bar, orchestra and restaurant and it was closed premises. He also admitted that there were no complaint from neighboures complaining annoyance. He has also admitted that it is not mentioned in the FIR that the customers were inviting the girls to come close to them. 8. In the instant case the accused Miten and Rajesh have been arrayed as accused on the ground that they were inviting the girls to behave in obscene manner by offering them money. However, no amount came to be seized from their possession or from the possession of any of the customer. Neither it is alleged that they themselves or any other customer did obscene act or uttered any obscene words near the public place nor the witness has described the gestures allegedly made by them. In absence of any evidence describing the gesture, statement of Gajanan Bharati is not sufficient to come to conclusion that the accused before the Court and other arrayed as accused being in capacity of customer have done any obscene act or gestures. Similarly, Gajanan Bharati (PW1) has not described the act or gestures of the girls arrayed as accused. In absence of description of the act or gestures by those girls, it cannot be said that the girls have done any obscene act or -- 5 of 7 -- Judgment 6 C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 gesture. 9. Further, it is alleged that Rs. 50/- note was seized from possession of girl Gurmeet Kaur. However, Gajanan Bharati has not described the serial number of Rs. 50/- note allegedly given to the panch witness Ansari. Therefore, there is no iota of evidence to suggest that the Rs. 50/- note allegedly recovered from possession of Gurmeet Kaur was the same which was given to panch witness Ansari. Further, there is no evidence to show that Ansari gave any Rs. 50/- note to Gurmeet Kaur. Thus, the evidence of the Gajanan Bharati do not link the accused with alleged offence. 10. Accused Ashok Shetty has been arrayed in the case being the Manager of the hotel and it is alleged that he was supporting the customers in their act. Firstly, the prosecution has not proved any offence against the customers. Secondly, the testimony of Gajanan Bharati is absolutely silent on the act or omission of accused Ashok Shetty. Thus, there is absolutely no evidence against him. 11. In view of our discussion, the accused before the Court are entitled to be acquitted. One of the accused Mahi Yadav had pleaded guilty. With regard to the rest of the accused who have been charge- sheeted, I do not find any iota of evidence which would lead to their conviction if they appear before the Court and plead innocence. Thus, consequently proceedings against all other remaining accused are required to be stopped. 12. Record shows that Rs. 50/- currency note is came to be -- 6 of 7 -- Judgment 7 C. C. No. 2312/PS/2018 seized under panchanama as well as cash of Rs. 27,140/- was also seized from the hotel counter. However, the Manager of the hotel or cashier has never claimed such amount from the Court as they have come with the theory of total denial and false implication. Consequently, the seized cash is required to be forfeited and credited to the State. Resultantly, I proceed to pass following order: ORDER i Accused Miten Vinod Dalal, Rajesh Puranmal Agarwal and Ashok Monta Shetty are acquitted of the offences punishable under Section 294 r/w 34 of the IPC vide section 255 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. ii Bail bonds of the accused stands cancelled. iii Accused Nos. 10, 11 and 27 shall furnish bond of Rs.10,000/- each under section 437(A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. iv The proceeding against accused Nos. 1 to 9 absconding, accused Nos. 12 to 26, accused Nos. 28 to 33 and accused Nos. 35 to 40 is hereby stopped vide Section 258 of Cr.P.C. v Seized cash of Rs. 27,140/- be credited to the State after appeal period is over. (S. G. Agrawal) Judicial Magistrate (F.C.) Date: 22/04/2026. 10th Court, Andheri, Mumbai. Di 9/10/2023 Dictated on : 22/04/2026. Transcribed on : 22/04/2026. Signed on : 22/04/2026. -- 7 of 7 --
