Atul Anand And Another vs State Of Haryana And Anr on 27 March, 2014

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Punjab-Haryana High Court

Atul Anand And Another vs State Of Haryana And Anr on 27 March, 2014

Bench: M.M.S. Bedi

            Cr.Misc. M 28193 of 2013                                 1


                       IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND
                                    HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH.


                                                                 Cr.Misc. M 28193 of 2013
                                                                 Date of decision:27.3.2014
            Atul Anand and another
                                                                            .. petitioner

                                                  vs
            State of Haryana and anr
                                                                           ... respondent


            Present            Mr. RS Rai, Sr. Advocate with
                               Mr. Ks Nalwa, Advocate.
                               Mr. Aman Bansal, Advocate
                               Mr. BS Saini, Sr.DAG, Hry
                               Mr. NS Shekhawat, Advocate.


            M.M.S. BEDI,J.

This order will dispose of three petitions filed by Atul Anand and anr (Cr.Misc. M 28913 of 2013), Neeraj Sharma and another (Cr.Misc. M 33311 of 2013) and Vishal Jindal (Cr.Misc. M 34564 of 2013).

The petitioners in all the three petitions seek the concession of pre-arrest bail in a case registered at the instance of Mukesh Mann, M.D. M/S Etheric Brothers alleging that the National Institute of Electgronics and Information Technology ( for short 'NIELIT') allotted the work of demographic data digitization of urban zones of Haryana (Panchkula) and Punjab (Jalandhar) to M/S Virgo Softech limited, a company of Atul Anand and Yogindra Singh. As per the allegations in the complaint one Additya Pal, M.D. of M/S Cordate Corporate Professionals Pvt. Ltd. and Neeraj Sharma, M.D. of M/S Vaidaangi Techno Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd. approached him and offered him work for data entry. The complainant engaged staff and started the work at two places and completed the work for the money as agreed to by the work providers but subsequently they refused to pay the money on the ground that they were not authorised by Mann Tapindar Singh 2014.03.28 18:59 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court Chandigarh Cr.Misc. M 28193 of 2013 2 NIELIT. The petitioners have connived with each other . They had come to the office of the complainant and forcibly and illegally taken away the data generated , on 23.2.2013.

Counsel for the petitioners has argued that as a matter of fact on 6.2.2012 the processed data had already been delivered and transmitted to NIELIT.

During the course of arguments, a serious dispute arose whether the complainant has been deprived of the money for the man power and infrastructure used to complete the job of processing demographic data. It also transpired that the complainant has also filed a suit for recovery of money at Delhi.

Counsel for the complainant has vehemently opposed the petition for pre-arrest bail on the ground that the recoveries are to be effected not only from the Directors and Chairman of M/S Virgo Softech Pvt. Ltd. but also from the other petitioners. So far as Neeraj Sharma and Aditya Pratap Singh Chauhan ( petitioners in Cr.Misc. M 33311 of 2013) are concerned, they do not have any direct dealing with M/S Etheric Brothers or NIELIT but the company of the complainant was to assist the company of the said petitioners for providing support and services. A suit for recovery seems to have been filed against the complainant for damages by the said petitioners. They claim that FIR has been registered as a counter blast.

Vishal Jindal ( petitioner in Cr.Misc. M 34564 of 2013) is employed in supervising capacity with M/S Virgo Softech Pvt. Ltd., which company had hired the services of M/S Cordate Corporate Professionals Pvt. Ltd. and M/S Vaidaangi Techno Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd. for supply of man power and infrastructure for performing their part of the contract with NIELIT.

Mann Tapindar Singh

2014.03.28 18:59 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document High Court Chandigarh Cr.Misc. M 28193 of 2013 3

Learned State counsel, on the instructions of the investigating officer, has submitted that the allegation of theft of hard disc and processed data has been found to be false.

In view of the above circumstances, it does not appear to be a case of custodial interrogation. The civil liability of the parties is sub judiced before the civil courts. Accordingly, all the three petitions are allowed and it is ordered that in case of arrest of the petitioners, they will be released on bail to the satisfaction of the arresting officer subject to the condition that the petitioners will join the investigation as and when required by the police and will not tamper with evidence or hamper the investigation. They would be required to provide all the material, including hardware and software as and when required by the investigating agency. This order will remain operative till presentation of challan. In case of presentation of challan, the petitioners will be released on bail on their appearance before the court concerned. It is further ordered that the petitioners shall be required to plan their visits abroad to cause minimum interruption in the investigation and the criminal proceedings.

            March 27           ,2014                                ( M.M.S. BEDI )
            TSM                                                           JUDGE




Mann Tapindar Singh
2014.03.28 18:59
I attest to the accuracy and
integrity of this document
High Court Chandigarh

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