Hema Upadhyay murder case: Bombay High Court rejects estranged husband Chintan's bail plea

Bombay High Court today rejected the bail application of artist Chintan Upadhyay who has been languishing in jail for over an year for killing his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay and lawyer Haresh Bambani on Dec 11, 2015. Mumbai police which had been Investigating the case filed chargesheet in the case.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav rejected the bail plea filed by Chintan and said, "There is more than sufficient material to show that Chintan nurtured a grudge against Hema and he expressed this in his diary and also said that he wanted to eliminate her (Hema)."

The court also noted that Chintan during the pendancy of his divorce from Hema and even after getting divorce never stayed in the flat purchased by them together. "But only close to the incident (December 1-8, 2015) Chintan started residing in the flat along with Hema," Justice Jadhav said.

The court said prior to the murders, Chintan had drawn objectionable paintings at their house here against Hema who then got suspicious and filed a case.

"Going by the conduct of the applicant before and after the incident this court feels this is not a fit case to grant bail at this stage," the judge said.

The court also asked police to initiate steps towards arresting Vidyadhar Rajbhar, one of the prime accused in the case who is absconding since the incident.

JUDGE SLAMS POLICE

"Why dont you (police) issue a look out notice against him? Why do you always wait for the court to direct or tell you to do so?" the judge asked.

Chintan had approached the high court in November last year seeking bail and claiming that he had been falsely implicated in the case and he was not involved in the crime.

Chintans lawyer Raja Thakare rubbished the polices claim that the motive behind the murders was matrimonial dispute and said he was falsely implicated in the case.

Thakare today argued before the judge that the police theory that the motive behind the murder was the matrimonial dispute between Chintan and Hema cannot be accepted as Chintan was the one who filed the divorce petition and that he has abided by all orders passed in the matter without raising objection.

"Chintan filed for divorce which was granted by the family court in 2014. The family court had directed Chintan to pay a sum of Rs 16 lakh to Hema towards the flat purchased by them together. In January 2015, Chintan paid the entire sum. Hema later approached the High Court seeking a monthly maintenance of Rs one lakh. The high court directed Chintan to pay maintenance of Rs 40000 each month which he agreed to. He even paid the arrears amounting to Rs two lakh to Hema," Thakare argued.

With inputs from PTI

Also read: Hema Upadhyay murder: Man who last called Mumbai artist is prime suspect