High court rejects pre-arrest bail plea of astrologer Ashok Kharat’s wife in cheating case

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Bombay high court’s Aurangabad bench has rejected the pre-arrest bail application of Kalpana Kharat, wife of Nashik astrologer Ashok Kharat, in a cheating and illegal money lending case, holding that the applicant suppressed material facts and tried to misrepresent the court to seek relief.Ashok Kharat, who is facing multiple cases of rape, cheating and offences under the Black Magic Act, Kalpana and three others are accused of duping a farmer from Rahata of his four acres of land at Nighoj, valued at around Rs10 crore, by camouflaging a loan transaction as a registered sale deed.Based on the farmer’s complaint, the Shirdi police registered the case on March 31, 2026. Kalpana’s whereabouts are not known since then and the police haven’t been able to trace and arrest her so far.

A sessions court in Rahata rejected her anticipatory bail plea on April 22, 2026, prompting her to move the HC for relief.The bench of Justice R M Joshi, while rejecting the plea on June 10, observed that the applicant (Kalpana) had taken a specific stand before both the sessions court and the high court that she had no knowledge of the disputed transaction and was not a signatory to the sale deed executed in her favour by the complainant.

“Though the applicant claims that the sale-deed is executed by her constituted attorney on the basis of power of attorney issued by her, perusal of the said power of attorney indicates that the constituted attorney was not authorised to execute the document but had power to register the document only after it is executed by applicant and accused No. 1 (Ashok Kharat). There is prima facie evidence to indicate that the applicant herself has executed the sale deed in question.

This court, therefore, finds substance in the contention of learned Public Prosecutor (Amarjitsinh Girase) that this is a case of suppression of facts and on that count alone, application deserves to be rejected,” the bench said.“Apart from the fact that there is suppression of material fact from this court and even the court is sought to be misrepresented by stating that the applicant is not a signatory to the sale-deed in question, there is other material on record in the form of entries from bank account of the applicant held by her individually. Thus, it cannot be said that the applicant had no knowledge with regard to the transaction in question,” the bench held.

Govt pleader Girase had relied on bank account entries showing payments of Rs85 lakh through Kalpana’s individual account to contend that she had full knowledge of the transaction. ends