“A new year brings a chance to create dreams; a new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. The new year of 2021, however, landed the applicant - Shree Jogdhankar, a young boy aged 21 years, into a quagmire,” observed the Bombay High Court while rejecting Jogdhankar’s bail plea who is accused of killing his friend Jhanvi Kukreja on the new year’s eve.
Justice Bharti Dangre rejected Jogdhankar’s bail on July 7. However, the detailed order copy was uploaded on Friday.
On December 31, 2020, Kukreja attended a party along with Jogdhankar and her childhood friend and co-accused Diya Padalkar, and a few others on the terrace of a building in Khar. An argument ensued between Kukreja and the two accused which lead to a violent scuffle on the staircase, where she was murdered, said police.
While rejecting Jogdhankar’s bail, the HC noted in its 12-page order, that the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution connect Jogdhankar with the crime and that they “prima facie point to his guilt”.
“He (Jogdhankar) is accused of murdering his close friend Jhanvi and in this act, it is alleged that he was assisted by another of his close friend Diya,” noted justice Dangre.
The court added: “The three youngsters, the applicant, Diya and Jhanvi decided to usher the new year with a Big Bang celebration along with their 14 friends and the venue was fixed as a terrace.”
The scuffle started after Kukreja notices Jogdhankar getting close to Diya, under the influence of alcohol. It was during this scuffle that Kukreja was brutally assaulted by Jogdhankar and was dragged from the 8th floor to the 2nd floor of the building's staircase.
The court said that considering the material compiled in the police charge-sheet and the gravity of the accusations faced by him, no case is made out for releasing Jogdhankar on bail.
In addition, the court added that since all the witnesses in the case were friends, there was a possibility that Jogdhankar would tamper with the evidence and pressurise the prosecution witnesses.
“In the wake of the overwhelming circumstance of the presence of the applicant (Jogdhankar) in the company of the deceased and they being last seen together and the deceased lying in a pool of blood with 48 injuries on her body, is sufficient to establish the case of the prosecution attributing the murder to him,” said justice Dangre while rejecting the bail plea.
