Chintan Upadhyay files bail application claiming he had no motive, financial or otherwise, to eliminate estranged wife Hema or her lawyer
Artist Chintan Upadhyay filed a bail application yesterday in the murder case of his estranged wife Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani. In his application, Chintan stated that there was no dispute between him and Hema and even the day before her death, he had paid Rs 16 lakh to her in alimony.
Chintan Upadhyay said he gave the money to Hema just a day before her murder on December 12. File pic
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'Out of station'
His advocate Bharat Manghani filed the application before the Dindoshi Sessions court. It further states that Chintan was not in town on the evening of the murder. "In fact, Chintan was in Delhi and came to Mumbai on receipt of the information that his wife, the deceased Hema Upadhyay, was missing," reads the application. Building upon that, it further pointed out that even the chargesheet did not mention a proximate motive for which he would have murdered his own wife, much less her lawyer, with whom he had no enmity.
Money no object
"In December 2015, Chintan had paid a sum of Rs 16 lakh towards alimony to Hema, as per the order of the Hon'ble High Court. From the above circumstances, it is amply clear that matrimonial dispute could not be the motive for the murder and Chintan would not have parted with such a huge amount if he had the evil design of eliminating his wife Hema," stated the application.
Chintan also added that even though he and Hema had bought their house in Juhu together, only she was living there, while he was living separately in Delhi. Further, he had also contributed Rs 25 lakh towards a studio for her in Andheri in 2008.
"Thus, there is no material to suggest that on account of payment of alimony or on account of property — the flat at Juhu or the studio — there were any strained relations between Chintan and his wife so as to provide him a motive to eliminate her. There are no circumstances brought on record to show any financial difficulty for Chintan which would compel him to commit murder of his wife Hema," the statement argued.
The bail hearing will be held on September 28.
Rs 25 lakh
Amount paid by Chintan to set up a studio for Hema in Andheri in 2008
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