Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday, February 9, granted bail to Akashdeep Karaj Singh, an accused in the murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former MLA Baba Siddique, making him the first person to get relief in the case.
A bench of Justice Neela Gokhale, in the order, said undoubtedly the offence committed by the organised crime syndicate, alleged to be headed by Lawrence and Anmol Bishnoi, was a “serious offence”.
However, after perusing the prosecution evidence with regard to Singh, the court said it was “unable to form an opinion that there are reasonable grounds, at this stage, for believing that the accusations against the Applicant of commission of the offence under the MCOCA are prima facie true”.
The court granted Singh, a resident of Punjab, bail on a surety of Rs 1 lakh and directed him to not to leave Mumbai until the trial is over in the case.
Siddique (66) was shot dead by three assailants outside his son Zeeshan’s office in the Bandra East area on the night of October 12, 2024.
Singh (22), who was arrested in November 2024, is the first accused to have secured bail in the case.
Justice Gokhale in the order said the prosecution case against Singh hinges on one call made by him to a co-accused.
The bench, however, noted that one call cannot connect Singh with an organised crime syndicate, unless it clearly demonstrated that he had knowledge that the co-accused was engaged in the syndicate.
“A bare allegation unsupported by any material that the applicant (Singh) made international calls to supporters of the Organised Crime Syndicate in Canada, does not indicate his complicity in the offence,” HC said.
The court also noted that the confessional statements of two accused in the case have no mention of Singh.
The confessional statements describe in detail their own role as well as the role of other accused in the case but Singh’s name is “eloquently absent”, Justice Gokhale said.
The accused, in his bail plea, claimed he was implicated in the case and that the allegations levelled against him were baseless and vague.
Singh claimed he is only accused of being a member of an organised crime syndicate, and no specific role has been attributed to him in the present case.
He also contended the trial in the case would not start in the near future, and said incarceration without trial was violative of his fundamental rights.
In January this year, the police filed a chargesheet in the case, showing Anmol Bishnoi, brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, as a wanted accused.
According to the prosecution, Anmol Bishnoi hatched a conspiracy to kill Siddique to instil fear and dominance over the crime syndicate.
The police have arrested 26 people in the case and booked them under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). They are currently in judicial custody.
