By: Express News ServiceMumbai | October 17, 2025 02:36 AM IST 3 min readSenior Advocate Ashok Mundargi, along with advocates Abhishek Yende, Heanike Vyas and Shubham Kahite, argued that the allegations against Dilip Khedkar were misconceived.Mumbai, October 16: The Bombay High Court Thursday granted anticipatory bail to absconding accused Dilip Khedkar, father of sacked trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, for the alleged abduction of the helper of a truck.A single-judge bench of Justice Nitin R Borkar passed an order on Dilip Khedkar’s pre-arrest bail plea and directed him to pay Rs 4 lakh compensation to the victim truck helper and Rs 1 lakh to the Police Welfare Fund.The court directed that in the event the applicant is arrested, he shall be released on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and cooperate with the probe whenever the police call him for interrogation.Dilip Khedkar had approached the high court after a Navi Mumbai court earlier this month rejected his anticipatory bail plea. His wife, Manorama Khedkar, who had also been named as an accused in the case, was granted pre-arrest bail by the Navi Mumbai court last month. The Navi Mumbai police had arrested Dilip Khedkar’s driver in the case.On September 13, a concrete mixer truck allegedly brushed past Khedkars’ car at a traffic junction on the Mulund-Airoli Road.As per the prosecution, Dilip Khedkar and his driver allegedly had an altercation with truck driver Chandrakumar Chavan and helper Prahlad Kumar, 22, and the two then allegedly forced Kumar into their vehicle, claiming they were taking him to the police station.The truck owner, thereafter, lodged a kidnapping case at Rabale police station. The police said the SUV was registered in the name of Manorama Khedkar, who allegedly restricted police officers from entering their house. The police claimed Dilip Khedkar had been absconding in the matter.Story continues below this adSenior Advocate Ashok Mundargi, along with advocates Abhishek Yende, Heanike Vyas and Shubham Kahite, argued that the allegations against Dilip Khedkar were misconceived.“The allegation that the victim was wrongfully confined is an imaginary theory adopted by the prosecution, and there is no evidence to prove the same. Therefore, they have come up with an alternative theory that the wife of the applicant has destroyed the evidence in the form of DVR (digital video recorder), which could have otherwise proved that the victim was confined at the house of the applicant,” the plea stated.The court also said that Section 137 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for kidnapping of a person from India or from lawful guardianship could not be attracted to the present crime.The Centre last year had dismissed Puja Khedkar from the IAS as the Union Public Service Commission cancelled her selection since she was found guilty of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes and disability quota benefits. Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Mumbai