Authority: High Court of Judicature at Bombay (Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction)
Order Date: 22 October 2026
Case Overview
- Petitioner: Vishnu Ramchandra Bhagwat, 43, businessman, Director and Promoter of Ujjwal Agro Multi State Co‑operative Society Pvt Ltd, Shri Mauli Multi State Credit Co‑operative Society Pvt Ltd, and Sankalp Siddhi Product Pvt Ltd.
- Respondents: State of Maharashtra represented through Director General of Police and Economic Offence Wings of Nashik, Pune, Dhule, and multiple police stations.
- FIRs: Ten FIRs (59/2020, 109/2020, 156/2019, 86/2019, 273/2020, 251/2019, 51/2020, 201/2019, 16/2021, 262/2022) lodged across Dhule, Nashik, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, etc., all alleging acceptance of deposits promising high returns, partial payments followed by non‑repayment, amounting to alleged fraud of Rs 5.87 crore.
- Background: Initial complaint by self‑styled RTI activist Ganesh Kankal, later found with firearms and charged under the Arms Act; his alleged revenge campaign led to multiple complaints and a debit freeze on the petitioner’s entities. Assets of petitioner exceed Rs 40 crore and have been attached.
- Legal submissions: Advocate Vikram Parmar sought clubbing of FIRs to avoid multiplicity of trials; cited Supreme Court precedents (Amish Devgan, Radhey Shyam, etc.).
Final Outcome
- The Court allowed the petition, making the rule absolute and ordering that all ten FIRs be clubbed and transferred to the court handling C.R. No. 209/2019 (Mumbai Naka Police Station, Nashik).
- Transfer to be effected within 30 days of judgment upload.
- Evidence of witnesses may be recorded via video‑conference; if physical presence required, petitioner must bear travel, food and accommodation costs up to Rs 2,000 per day per witness.
- Interim application disposed; petition granted.
Topics: Legal Proceedings, Criminal Law