Mumbai caregiver arrested for duping IIT Bombay retired professor of Rs 6.93 crore gets bail after 6 months
The sessions court stated that the caregiver's claim that the transfer of assets — including a share in four flats — must be decided voluntarily by a civil court.
Nikita Naik was arrested on June 30 by the Powai police following a complaint by the retired professor's son for shifting his 82-year-old father to an old-age home.
Over six months after the arrest of a 34-year-old caregiver in Mumbai, a sessions court granted her bail on Friday in a case where she was accused of cheating a retired IIT-Bombay professor of Rs 6.93 crore, saying her claim that the transfer of assets—including a share in four flats — must be decided voluntarily by a civil court.
Nikita Naik was arrested on June 30 by the Powai police following a complaint by the retired professor’s son for shifting his 82-year-old father to an old-age home.
According to the complaint, the caregiver took undue advantage of the retired man’s age and related ailments, including loss of eyesight, and under the pretext of assisting him in financial matters, withdrew cash to the tune of Ra 1.03 crore from his account, removed jewellery worth Rs 8.05 lakh from his locker, and took possession of important documents for a registered gift deed for a share in three flats, worth Rs 4.89 crore, between 2017 and 2025.
The prosecution told the court that Rs 2 crore found in her bank account has been seized.
Naik denied the allegations in her bail plea, stating that she was the sole caregiver of the man during this period, as none of the family members were living with him, and claimed that he had voluntarily transferred the property to her through a registered gift deed affectionately.
She also said that proper documentation for the transfer of the flat was available before 2023, when the retired professor was still managing his affairs independently with a sound mind and had not lost his eyesight.
The court observed that the informant is highly educated and retired from the high post of a professor at the IIT Engineering Institute, while one of his sons is a doctor by profession in Pune, and one of his daughters resides near his flat in the same vicinity. “The alleged incident occurred during 2017-2025. The transaction of the flat is a registered one. The amount is transferred through the bank from time to time during the said period. Admittedly, the applicant served as an informant during the said span,” the court said.
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“Therefore, the contentions of the learned advocate for the applicant (Naik) that the informant voluntarily transferred the property and amount under love and affection as the applicant served and his children deserted and the allegations of fraud and cheating of the prosecution are matters required to be decided by the civil court alone,” Additional Sessions Judge D G Dhoble said in the order.
The court said that a civil suit filed in the case is pending.
“All allegations raised by the prosecution and submission of the applicant are required to be adjudicated during the course of trial, and no final conclusion can be arrived at this stage. The entire case is based on registered documentation. The amounts from the bank account of the applicant are frozen. The muddemal (amount involved in the offence) is recovered. The offences alleged are punishable up to seven years and are not punishable with life imprisonment or death. In such a case, bail is the rule, jail is an exception,” the court said.
It also noted that the woman, who has two children, has been in jail since June, and her further detention after the probe is over will amount to pre-trial punishment. Naik was granted bail on surety of Rs 25,000, with conditions, including not to tamper with the evidence.
Sadaf Modak is a distinguished Legal Correspondent based in Mumbai whose work demonstrates exceptional Expertise and Authority in covering the intricacies of the judicial and correctional systems. Reporting for The Indian Express, she is a highly Trustworthy source for in-depth coverage of courtroom proceedings and human rights issues.
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