Mumbai, Nov 4: In a significant legal development, the Bombay High Court, through Justice N. J. Jamadar, has stated that an individual held in custody for a criminal offense has the right to seek anticipatory bail in another case where arrest is anticipated.
Justice Jamadar emphasized that the notion preventing a person arrested in one case from seeking pre-arrest bail in any other case could result in “incalculable harm to personal liberty.”
This observation arose during the hearing of a pre-arrest bail plea filed by former Pune corporator Amar Mulchandani, who sought protection in a 2019 cheating case lodged by Pune police. An FIR had been filed against him in the Seva Vikas Bank Scam case, where he was accused of defrauding the bank of Rs. 429 crore. Mulchandani is currently in jail following his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
