A special court on Friday granted bail to Sanatan Sanstha lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 2013 murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.
Mr. Punalekar was granted bail on two personal bonds of ₹30,000 each. While the CBI counsel requested that his passport be impounded, additional sessions judge R.M. Pande said it would suffice if Mr. Punalekar informed the court if he had to travel abroad.
The judge also directed Mr. Punalekar to comply with other bail conditions, which include cooperating with the agency in the investigation and presenting himself twice a week at the CBI’s office in Navi Mumbai. Mr. Punalekar is expected to be released from Yerwada Jail on Saturday.
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“We had placed our faith in the judiciary. Today, with his bail order, Mr. Punalekar stands vindicated,” said Dharmraj Chandel, one of the defence counsel in the case. He said the bail plea of Sanatan Sanstha member Vikram Bhave would be filed soon as well.
Mr. Punalekar was arrested along with Mr. Bhave by the CBI on May 25 after the agency alleged that the duo had participated in the conspiracy to murder Dabholkar. He was charged with destruction of evidence and in advising Sharad Kalaskar, named by the agencies as Dabholkar’s killer, to allegedly destroy the murder weapon.
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The CBI had strongly urged against granting bail to the advocate on the grounds that he could tamper with the evidence.
Mr. Punalekar’s counsel argued that there was nothing in the CBI probe to incriminate him in Dabholkar’s murder.
After two custodial spells with the CBI, the court on June 20 acceded to the agency’s request seeking Mr. Punalekar’s custody for a third time.
The agency had sought the extension on the grounds that it needed to interrogate the lawyer regarding allegedly incriminating documents and files seized from his laptop during his arrest.
Judicial remand
On June 23, the CBI told the court that it did not require any further custody of Mr. Punalekar following which the judge had sent him back to judicial remand.
In his statement to the CBI last year, Kalaskar had allegedly said Mr. Punalekar, known for his statements against Dabholkar, had asked him to destroy the weapons.
According to the CBI, Kalaskar had further revealed that it was Thane-based Bhave who had allegedly planned the reconnaissance and had pointed out Dabholkar to the assailants. The agency claimed that Mr. Bhave had even planned the getaway route for the shooters after the crime.
Dabholkar was shot dead while out for his morning stroll on Pune’s Omkareshwar Bridge on August 20, 2013.