Bombay High Court Grants One-Week Temporary Bail To Life Convict For Law Entrance Exam

The Bombay High Court on Friday granted temporary bail to Sohail Salim Ansari, a convict serving a life sentence, to enable him to appear for the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (MH-CET) scheduled on May 30, 2024 for admission to the five-year law course.

A vacation bench of Justice NR Borkar and Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan observed, “It appears that the Applicant is in jail for about nine years. It further appears that during trial he was on bail for some period and he did not misuse the liberty granted to him. Considering the said facts, we are inclined to release the Applicant on temporary bail for a period of one week.”

Ansari, who has been in jail for nine years following his conviction in December 2021 for the murder of Shiv Sena functionary Ramesh Baban Jadhav, sought temporary bail to take the entrance exam. He, along with three others, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Court of Sessions at Dindoshi.

Ansari filed an appeal against the judgment and filed an interim application for suspension of his sentence. He challenged the prison authorities' rejection of his furlough request.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde opposed the grant of furlough and regular bail. However, the court noted that Ansari had been on bail during his trial without misusing the liberty granted to him.

Advocate Irfan Unwala for Ansari presented the admit card for the exam to support his plea for temporary bail.

The court noted that Ansari had been in jail for nine years and his appeal against the conviction was still pending. Considering these factors, the court decided to release him on a cash bail of Rs. 15,000 for one week, until May 31, 2024.

The court ordered that the bail be furnished before the Trial Court and scheduled the application for further consideration before the Regular Court. Ansari is required to report back to Paithan Open Jail, where he is currently lodged, on May 31, 2024.

Ansari's conviction relates to an incident on October 21, 2014, in Malad East, where he and several others were involved in a violent altercation that led to the death of Ramesh Baban Jadhav.

Following the trial, the Additional Sessions Judge at Dindoshi convicted Ansari and his co-accused on December 23, 2021, under Section 302 of the IPC for murder, along with other charges including assault and criminal intimidation.

Case no. – Sohail Salim Ansair v. State of Maharashtra

Case Title – Appeal No. 410 of 2022

Click Here To Read/Download Order