Nashik court grants anticipatory bail to Kalpana Kharat

Nashik: The Nashik Road sessions court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to Kalpana Kharat in a cheating case involving alleged violation of the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act, noting a 22-year delay in filing the complaint and lack of direct allegations against her.Kalpana Kharat is a co-accused in the case, with her husband, astrologer Ashok Kharat, named as the main accused. The case was registered at the Sinnar police station on April 9.The complaint alleges that Kharat acquired 16.5 acres of land in Mirgaon from the complainant in 2003–04 for Rs 3.47 lakh, despite the family having purchased it for Rs 15 lakh in 1997. He allegedly coerced the deal by claiming the land carried a “bad omen,” instilling fear that he could use “divine powers” to harm the family.

The complainant, a grocer, did not approach police earlier and filed the complaint only after Ashok Kharat’s arrest on March 15 in a separate rape case.Observing the delay, the court said, “The alleged transaction of land deal had taken place in 2004. However, the complaint was registered in 2026, which is 22 years from the date of the alleged transaction.” The court further noted that there were no specific allegations linking Kalpana Kharat to the transaction.

“The present accused Kalpana Kharat has never participated in any discussion of the deal or visited the land in question, nor has she made any false promise or any time of verbal or written communication with the complainant,” the order stated.Granting relief, the court said custodial interrogation was not required. “Since, nothing is to be seized from her possession and the nature of allegation in the FIR does not absolutely warrant any need of custodial interrogation, in the event of her arrest, Kalpana Kharat should be released on bail in the sum of Rs 1 lakh surety.”The court directed that the applicant “shall not cause obstruction in the investigation and shall not cause inducement or threaten the prosecution witness.”Defence counsel Prashant Giri argued, “The case was 22 years old, all the accusations in the FIR were against her husband Ashok Kharat. Thus her arrest was not required.”