A Pune court has granted temporary bail to Dilip Kondiba Khedkar, the father of controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, until July 25. This decision is related to an incident where he allegedly threatened farmers in Mulshi with a firearm over a land dispute.
The order was issued by Additional Sessions Judge A. N. Mare on Friday afternoon. This development follows the arrest of Puja’s mother, Manorama Khedkar, on Thursday, based on a complaint lodged by farmer Pandharinath Pasalkar (65) at the Paud police station in Pune rural on July 12.
Manorama was remanded to police custody until July 20. During the investigation, the Pune rural police found a pistol and three live cartridges at Manorama’s residence in the National Housing Society, Baner. Police suspect this is the same pistol used to allegedly threaten Pasalkar and others at Dhadawali village in the Mulshi tehsil on June 5, 2023.
The FIR was filed after a video of Manorama Khedkar brandishing a gun at a farmer surfaced on social media and television. In the video, she is seen with bouncers, holding a pistol during a heated argument with a farmer over disputed land.
After viewing the video, farmer Pasalkar approached the police and filed a complaint. Police then charged Manorama Khedkar, Dilip Khedkar, and others under sections 323, 504, 506, 143, 144, 147, 148, and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections of the Arms Act. IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) was later added.
On Friday, Dilip Khedkar applied for anticipatory bail through lawyers Sagar Doiphode and Vijay Jagtap. The session judge A. N. Mare heard the case in the afternoon.
After considering the arguments and documents, the court granted Dilip Khedkar protection from arrest until July 25. The court ordered that if Dilip is arrested in the Paud police station case, he should be released on a personal bond of Rs. 30,000 and one or more sureties of the same amount. The court also stated that Dilip “shall not contact the informant or any other witness in the case by any mode of communication and shall not try to influence them.”
The court instructed Dilip to cooperate with the investigation and provide permanent residential addresses and contact numbers for himself and two close relatives to the investigating officer within seven days.
The Pune rural police have been directed to file their stance on Dilip Khedkar’s anticipatory bail application by July 25.
Dilip Khedkar, a former government officer, retired from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) four years ago. He ran unsuccessfully as a Vanchit Bahujan Agadi candidate for the Ahmednagar seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
On July 13, Pune city police commissioner Amitesh Kumar issued a show cause notice to Manorama Khedkar regarding the potential cancellation of her gun license. The notice cited violations of rules and regulations related to the gun license and stated that her actions posed a threat to public safety, concluding that she is “not the right person to possess a gun licence.”
Manorama has been asked to respond to the notice within 10 days, failing which her gun license may be canceled.
