The Bombay High Court has granted bail to a Mumbai-based baker who was arrested for allegedly planting drugs on actor Chrisann Pereira, leading to her arrest in Sharjah last year.
Justice Manish Pitale granted bail to baker Anthony Paul and co-accused Rajesh Bobhate, observing that the quantity of drugs involved in the case was small and no purpose would be served by keeping them in jail.
“In the present case, the chargesheet is already filed. The applicants have suffered incarceration for about one year and five months. Even as per the material available on record, only small quantity of ganja is involved. In such a situation, no purpose would be served by continuing the custody of the applicants, and therefore, a case is made out for enlarging the applicants on bail,” Justice Pitale said on Tuesday.
According to Pereira, she was contacted by one Ravi in March 2023 and was offered a role in a web series. She was requested to travel to the UAE for an audition. On April 1, 2023, Pereira travelled to Sharjah. Before her travel, the person had given her a trophy to deliver in which drugs were concealed, leading to her arrest there. Pereira spent nearly a month in jail before Indian authorities probed and found out that she was framed allegedly by Paul as revenge over a petty dispute with her mother earlier.
The special court rejected bail plea of Paul considering the trauma experienced by the actor. The police have contended that Paul had framed at least four other persons, including a DJ named Clayton Rodrigues, who was sentenced to 25 years in jail in Sharjah after being found in possession of a drug-laced cake.
Pauls’ advocates Aruna Pai and Ayaz Khan and Bhobhate’s advocate Shailesh Kharat submitted that the quantity allegedly placed in the trophy is of small quantity. The duo could be sentenced to one year to seven years in prison, if found guilty. They have already spent one year and three months behind bars, and the trial is yet to commence.
