Supreme Court: In a petition for special leave to appeal filed by Rohit Thakur and Abhishek Thakur (‘Thakur brothers’) who have been charged with over ₹12.15 crore online ticketing fraud in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, against the judgment and order dated by the Bombay High Court, wherein the Court rejected their anticipatory bail applications, the division bench of B.V. Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih, JJ. after considering the nature of the dispute between the parties and after pursuing the impugned order, refused to interfere in the matter. Thereby, refusing to grant them anticipatory bail. However, the Court allowed them to seek regular bail.
The Thakur Brothers were partners of Wild Connectivity Solutions who entered an agreement with TATR Conservation Foundation for online bookings of jungle safari in 2021. They were alleged to contravene the terms and conditions and duped the forest department by not paying over ₹12.15 crore.
Thakur brother submitted that they have appeared as many as 16 times before the Investigating Authority and would continue to do so but the investigation has been tardy. Therefore, the Court directed that the investigation should be conducted expeditiously and a decision one way or the other on the conclusion of the investigation should be taken by the Investigating Authority.
[Abhishek v State of Maharashtra, Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 1814/2024, Order dated 12-02-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For Petitioner(s): Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswami, Advocate-On-Record Rajat Joseph, Advocate Ganesh Kidambi, Advocate Nilesh Fulzele, Advocate Hrishikesh Chitaley, Advocate Vijay Kari Singh
For Respondent(s): Advocate-On-Record Abhikalp Pratap Singh, Advocate Kartik Shukul, Advocate Kartikey, Advocate Yamini Singh