Raghunath Yemul Acquitted by High Court; All Charges In ‘Nana Gaikwad’ Case Quashed

Pune: The Bombay High Court has completely acquitted Raghunath Rajaram Yemul, who was made an accused in the domestic violence case involving Pune-based businessman Nana Gaikwad’s family. In an order passed on April 17, 2026, Justice Shivkumar Dige’s single-judge bench quashed all charges against Yemul under Section 3(2) of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013.

On June 30, 2021, Nana Gaikwad’s daughter-in-law had lodged a complaint against her husband, Ganesh Gaikwad, and his family members, alleging physical and mental harassment over dowry demands. Subsequently, in a supplementary statement recorded on July 10, 2021, she alleged that Ganesh Gaikwad’s guru, Raghunath Yemul, had described her as possessing “negative energy” and had advised her husband to stay away from her. Based on this supplementary statement, Yemul was added as Accused No. 9 in the case.

While reviewing the matter in detail, the High Court made several important observations. The court noted that Raghunath Yemul’s name did not appear anywhere in the original FIR and that he was implicated only through the supplementary statement recorded ten days later.

The court further observed that the statement of Rajeshkumar Mishra, driver of Accused No. 2, was recorded nearly three months after the FIR. Statements of other witnesses, including Ekant Patil and Hitesh Bhosale, were also found to be hearsay in nature, with none of them having directly witnessed Yemul committing any act.

In its order, the court also stated that there was no evidence to show that Raghunath Yemul had ever personally met complainant Muktai Gaikwad or had any direct communication with her.

Regarding the Black Magic Act, the court clarified that although placing turmeric and vermilion on a lemon may fall within the schedule of the Act, there was no direct evidence to establish that the act was carried out on Yemul’s instructions.

The State had argued that Yemul’s earlier discharge application filed in 2022 had already been rejected and that he approached the High Court directly through a third application without challenging the previous order. However, Justice Dige rejected this argument, observing that if no offence is made out against the accused, failure to challenge an earlier discharge order cannot be held against him.

Allowing Criminal Revision Application No. 492 of 2025, the High Court quashed all charges against Yemul under the Maharashtra Black Magic Act in CR No. 293 of 2021 and granted him complete discharge from the case.

Senior Advocate Amit Desai appeared for Raghunath Yemul along with Advocates Abhishek Avachat and Siddhant Deshpande. Assistant Public Prosecutor R. D. Humane represented the State, while Advocate Siddharth Jagushte argued on behalf of the complainant.

The ruling has drawn attention to the legal principle that serious criminal charges cannot be sustained merely on the basis of oral allegations or hearsay evidence. After a prolonged legal battle, the judgment has brought significant relief to Raghunath Yemul.

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