Hema Upadhyay murder case: HC denies bail to Chintan

In a setback for Chintan Upadhyay, the Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to grant him bail. The HC said it would take up his plea seeking bail, in the second week of July.

A bench of Justice Bharati Dangre was hearing a plea filed by Chintan, who was arrested in January 2016 for his alleged role in the murders of his artist wife Hema Upadhyay and her advocate Harish Bhambani.

In his plea filed through senior advocate Raja Thakare, Chintan relied upon two orders, one by the Supreme Court while the other by the HC itself - both ordering the trial court to expedite the trial.

The SC had passed an order in February 2019, while denying him bail, it had asked the lower court to complete the trial within nine months. A similar order was passed by the Bombay HC, exactly a year later - in February 2020 – with a similar directive to the lower court.

Before Justice Dangre, Chintan argued that despite these two the trial court failed to complete the trial and hence, he deserved to be enlarged on bail.

"Though the Courts (both HC and SC) expected the trial to be expeditiously culminated but due to the unforeseen force with which the entire world is grappling today, I think the applicant does not deserve consideration by taking benefit of the two orders," Justice Dangre held.

"Hoping and expecting that the normalcy would return in the month of July 2020, I place this matter for hearing in the second week," Justice Dangre added.