Mumbai, February 23 A local court granted bail to Anant Garje, the personal assistant to Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde, who was arrested last November on charges of abetting the suicide of his dentist wife.
The bail was granted by Additional Sessions Judge Rupali Pawar. The order is not yet available.
Garje stated in his bail plea that the case against him was "based solely on suspicion and assumptions, without any concrete evidence".
Citing the investigation, the police opposed the bail plea, stating that the accused caused physical and mental distress to his wife.
Garje's wife, Dr. Gauri Palve, 28, hanged herself in her apartment in central Mumbai on November 22, allegedly due to a domestic dispute, about nine months after their marriage.
She was working as a dentist at the KEM Hospital, a government-run hospital.
Based on a complaint filed by Palve's father, the Worli police registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on charges of abetting suicide, criminal intimidation, and voluntarily causing hurt, among others, leading to Garje's arrest on November 24, 2025.
Palve's family alleged that she took the extreme step due to torture and harassment by Garje, the police said.
Garje, in his plea filed through advocate Mangesh Deshmukh, stated that the allegations against him were "vague", and that he was "absolutely innocent" and falsely implicated.
"The FIR is the result of an afterthought and emotional distress after the tragic incident," the plea said.
The accused submitted that the FIR does not disclose any direct, specific, or proximate act of abetment or cruelty attributable to them, which could constitute an offence under BNS.
The police said that on November 22, 2025, the accused (Garje) threatened to commit suicide to hide his own mistakes and recorded a voice clip to frame his wife.
He sent this audio clip to her, and out of fear that he would tarnish her social image by sending it to others, his wife was driven to end her life, the police said.
Palve's family had alleged that Garje had an extra-marital affair, and the victim caught him while chatting with another woman on a mobile phone.
Citing testimonies of witnesses, the police stated that Garje frequently quarrelled with his wife over trivial matters, didn't give her time, and behaved rudely.
The prosecution argued that the case involves the suicide of a female doctor, making it highly sensitive and serious in nature, the police said.
However, the court granted bail to the accused.