HC grants bail to three held for murder of Juhu builder, says ‘no clinching material to show involvement’

On August 9, 2020, Munaf was outside the Irla mosque for morning prayers when a person stabbed him to death.

Realtor Ashok Chajaad, another developer Abdul Rehman Abdul Latif Shaikh alias Sonu Azmi and Nadim Shaikh, who allegedly carried out the attack, were arrested by Juhu police on murder charges. Later, the police arrested Vasim Khan, who allegedly revealed the involvement of his father Khalil Peshkar and his brother Nasimm Khan, both developers.

According to the prosecution, the accused persons conspired to eliminate Munaf due to business and personal rivalry pertaining to slum area redevelopment project.

Of the total six accused, Sonu Azmi was released on bail and Chhajed, who was alleged to be the main conspirator, was also granted bail by the high court in July 2022.

On August 7, a single-judge bench of Justice Manish M Pitale passed an order in bail applications by developers Peshkar Khan and his two sons Vasim and Nasim.

Senior advocate Aabad Ponda, representing Vasim Khan and Peshkar Khan, along with advocate Sana Raees Khan, representing Nasim Khan, argued that as per HC order granting bail to Chhajed, there was a reasonable possibility of him not being held guilty in the present case and no motive could be attributed to him for hatching a conspiracy.

Therefore, the lawyers argued that their clients should also get a benefit of the 2022 high court order as they are claimed to be mere co-conspirators and the entire prosecution story prima facie collapses in the face of the high court’s findings.

Advocate Khan also argued that her client was wrongly roped in by the police under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) as there was absolutely no material to claim that he was the gang leader.

After perusing material on record, the bench accepted applicants’ contentions and found that “there is lack of incriminating material to link the applicants with the conspiracy to eliminate deceased Munaf.”

It also noted that the investigating authority has a given list of 112 witnesses in the chargesheet. It held that there was “no indication as to when the trial will begin and hence, completion of trial will not take place in the foreseeable future, therefore a case is made out for enlarging the applicants on bail.”