Kolhapur: A special MCOCA court in Sangli on Wednesday granted default bail to Nilesh Vithoba Gadade, the prime accused in the murder of 14-year-old Vedant Maruti Bandgar, after Bombay high court’s Kolhapur bench set aside an order extending his custody by 90 days.
Additional sessions and special MCOCA judge SM Chandgade granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh, imposing strict conditions. In Sept, a special court had extended custody by 90 days on an application moved by investigation officer through the Miraj sub-divisional police officer, citing the need for further investigation. A history-sheeter, Gadade was among seven accused arrested in the 2020 murder of NCP Sangli district vice-president Dattatreya Patole and had been released on bail by SC in July 2025.
Gadade must report to Sanjaynagar police station every Monday and Thursday until the chargesheet is filed and cannot enter Sangli district except for court hearings and police attendance. Provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) were invoked against Gadade and other accused after the crime. Gadade was arrested from a hotel near the Karnataka border, days after allegedly shooting Vedant at close range. The case pertains to allegations that he demanded ransom, threatened to kill a person and fired a shot at a chowk in Baj village a day before he allegedly murdered Vedant.
Meanwhile, Gadade had also moved a bail application before the Jat court in a case registered against him and two others under provisions of BNS, the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act.
Bombay HC, in an Oct 8 order by justices Sharmila Deshmukh and Neeraj Dhote, quashed the extension, holding that the application failed to comply with Section 21(2)(b) of MCOCA. The court noted that the law required a report from the public prosecutor, but the application was filed by the investigating officer and did not show that the special public prosecutor had independently applied his mind or endorsed the request for additional time.
Because the custody extension order was in force when the application was filed, during arguments before the Sangli court, the prosecution contended that the accused’s bail plea was not maintainable.
He held that once the extension order was quashed, an “indefeasible right” to default bail accrued to the accused under Section 187 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and that right had been exercised through the pending application. It argued that Gadade should file a fresh application after the HC’s ruling. Rejecting the contention, Judge Chandgade observed that the prosecution had not shown that the HC order had been challenged before Supreme Court .