Bombay High Court denies bail to 23-year-old accused of murdering girlfriend at New Year's eve party

The Bombay High Court last week denied bail to 23-year-old Shree Jogdhankar, the applicant accused of murdering his girlfriend, Janhvi Kukreja, at a New Year's eve party in Khar, a suburb of Mumbai [Shree Ambadas Jogdhankar vs The State of Maharashtra]..Justice Bharati Dangre said that since all the witnesses were close friends, there was every possibility of the applicant-accused tampering with the evidence and pressurizing the prosecution witness."Considering the material compiled in the charge-sheet and considering the gravity of the accusations faced by him, no case is made out for releasing the applicant (Jogdhankar) on bail. Apart from this, all the witnesses are close friends of the applicant and there is every possibility that he would tamper with the prosecution evidence and pressurize the prosecution witnesses," Justice Dangre reasoned in the order..19-year-old Kukreja was found dead in the staircase of her friend's residential building in Khar on January 1, 2021. The prosecution contended that after a violent scuffle between the applicant and deceased leading to a brutal assault, the deceased was found murdered on the stairs of the building after she was dragged for 6 floors and dropped on the second floor of the building.As per witness statements, the deceased was upset during the party after she found the accused and another common friend Diya in close proximity.The applicant and Diya were later arrested by the police on the charges of murder.After the trial court had rejected his bail application last year, Jogdhankar approached the High Court for bail..Advocate Satish Maneshinde appearing for the applicant informed the court that the applicant himself had sustained injuries which proved his innocence.Justice Dangre, however, refused to accept this submission."A singular circumstance of the applicant sustaining a rib fracture is not sufficient to override the other circumstances compiled against him in the charge-sheet by the prosecution, prima facie, pointing out to his guilt," the judge underscored.The Court also concluded that the case of the prosecution of attributing the murder to the accused had been established after noting that the deceased, found with 48 injuries on her body, was last seen with him.Observing that the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution connected Jogdhankar with the crime and “prima facie point to his guilt”, the Court refused bail to the applicant..Before commencing with the order, Justice Dangre also reflected on the significance of a New Year bringing hope, while the applicant accused got entangled in a mess."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," the Court observed.[Read Order]