Bombay High Court grants bail to woman charged with bailable offence over her child’s critical condition

The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a woman who had been in prison for months despite being charged with a bailable offence, stressing that she should not have been detained, especially given her child’s critical health condition.

Reshma Shrivastav had been incarcerated at Byculla Women’s Prison in Mumbai since August 22, 2024, in connection with a case under Section 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for causing the disappearance of evidence. Despite the charge being bailable, procedural delays kept her behind bars.

During the hearing on February 13, a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr. Neela Gokhale criticized the continued detention. “She should have been granted bail. The Additional Public Prosecutor (APPs in lower court) should have been mindful,” the bench observed while granting her bail.

Shrivastav’s case is linked to the discovery of a woman’s body in a sack in Mumbai’s Mankhurd area in August 2024. Police claim the victim, a woman in her early twenties, was killed due to a family dispute, and arrests were made within 24 hours. Shrivastav, whose husband had died in a train accident, was accused of unknowingly assisting in disposing of evidence at her brother’s request.

Her lawyer, advocate Zoheb Shaikh, argued that her detention was unjust, particularly because she has two young children-one of whom, just over a year old, has been in custody with her and suffers from severe health complications. “Her daughter has been in critical condition. She has required oxygen support, nebulisation, antibiotics, and blood transfusions at JJ Hospital. The mother should have been granted bail much earlier,” Shaikh contended.

Despite the offence being bailable, the Kurla Magistrate Court had remanded her to custody, and the Mumbai Sessions Court later rejected her bail plea, citing the seriousness of the case.

However, during the hearing, the prosecution confirmed that Shrivastav’s alleged involvement was limited to Section 238 of the BNS. The high court strongly disapproved of the prolonged detention, stating, “The petitioner ought to have been granted bail forthwith.”