Chintamani (35) was posted with the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Pimpri Chinchwad police when the ACB teams caught him on Nov 2, 2025, from Rasta Peth on the charge of accepting Rs46.5 lakh, as part of the first instalment of a Rs2 crore bribe demand, from a lawyer to help the latter’s client secure bail in a Rs3 crore cheating case which was being investigated by the Baner police.It was the ACB’s case that Chintamani initially demanded Rs2 lakh from the lawyer, but after examining the bank balance of the lawyer’s client, he jacked up the demand to Rs2 crore and agreed to accept Rs50 lakh as first instalment. The lawyer lodged a complaint with the ACB and a trap was laid at the Rasta Peth where the PSI was caught accepting Rs46.5 lakh from the lawyer, the ACB stated.In his bail plea, Chintamani pleaded that his detention, excluding the day of his arrest, could not extend beyond 60 days i.e. on or before Jan 1, 2026, without the chargesheet. He pleaded that even on Jan 5, 2026, the police did not file a chargesheet. And that he was entitled for a default bail.The prosecution had argued that Chintamani’s default bail plea was premature as it was filed on Jan 1, 2026, i.e. the same day when the 60 days period was to be completed and, hence, the same must be rejected. The court, however, noted that the application was filed after court hours on Jan 1, 2026, and that the chargesheet was not filed even until Jan 5, 2026.The court relied on a 2021 Bombay high court judgment in the Sudha Bhardwaj vs National Investigation Agency case, which held that denying default bail on a technical or formalistic view would violate the right to personal liberty. The court also noted that Supreme Court later upheld the said high court decision.
