Punjab-Haryana High Court
Manoj Kumar vs Central Bureau Of Investigation on 2 July, 2009
Author: Rajesh Bindal
Bench: Rajesh Bindal
Crl. Misc. No. M-5144 of 2009 [ 1]
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
Date of decision: 2.7.2009
(1) Criminal Misc. No. M-5144 of 2009
Manoj Kumar
.. Petitioner
Vs.
Central Bureau of Investigation
.. Respondent
(2) Criminal Misc. No. M-6680 of 2009
Dr. Krishan Kumar Aggarwal ... Petitioner
Vs.
Central Bureau of Investigation .. Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL
Present: Mr. Vipin K. Bali, Advocate for petitioner- Manoj Kumar.
Mrs. Kiran Bala Jain, Advocate for petitioner- Dr. Krishan Kumar Aggarwal.
Mr. Sukhdeep Singh Sodhi, Advocate for Central Bureau of Investigation.
Rajesh Bindal J.
This order will dispose of above mentioned two petitions, where the prayer is for grant of regular bail pending trial. Both the petitioners are accused in the same FIR.
Briefly, the facts are that FIR was registered against certain persons with specific information that a big scandal of kidney transplant was going on. On raid, the facts were found to be correct. It was found that many poor persons were being misled and their kidneys were being removed for further transplantation to other persons for consideration. Petitioner-Manoj Kumar was working as Laboratory Technician with one of the main accused-Amit Kumar in 1998. He used to conduct various laboratory tests and was also instrumental in getting the same done from outside specialised laboratories on forged and fabricated documents, whereas petitioner- Dr. Krishan Kumar Aggarwal is stated to be an Crl. Misc. No. M-5144 of 2009 [ 2] Anesthetist, who was helping the main accused in carrying the operation at the time of kidney transplant. Both the petitioners are in custody since 17.2.2008. The applications for regular bail pending trial having been rejected by the learned court below, the petitioners are before this Court.
Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners are in custody for the last more than one year and 4 months. The punishment for the offence committed for violation of the provisions of Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 (for short, `the Act') is minimum of two years to the maximum of 7 years. Under special circumstances, even lesser punishment can also be awarded. The petitioners, having undergone substantial imprisonment even pending trial, deserve to be released as the trial has not yet commenced. All the witnesses are accused as they are either donors or donees of the kidneys. It was further submitted that in the present case, initially the FIR was registered by the police. Again with the same contents, FIR was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation and then a complaint was filed before the court. No material collected in pursuance to the second FIR can be used against the petitioners and resultantly, it is a case of practically no case with the prosecution on the basis of which the petitioners would be convicted. It was further submitted that there are 238 witnesses and hundreds of documents, which are required to be examined and the trial may take long time and the petitioners should not be made to suffer on that account. It was further submitted that one Nurse- Ms. Linda, who was also one of the co-accused, has already been directed to be released on bail.
Additional submission made in the case of Dr. Krishan Kumar Aggarwal is that he is a practitioner at Alwar in Rajasthan. He was not named in the FIR. He was earlier in employment with Amit, the main accused, but had left long back and it was only on a particular day that he had come in the hospital to administer anesthesia to a patient for operation, otherwise he is not concerned with the activities carried on by other accused.
On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent submitted that it is a big scam where human organs were traded like commodities. The main accused in the case were indulging in same activities at many places, where FIRs have been registered against them. The hospital, where the operations were being conducted, was not authorised. All the accused are part of the gang, who were sharing the bounty earned out of illegal trade of human organs, where poor people were being cheated. The Central Bureau of Investigation had taken up the case after the registration of FIR by the State on issuance of a notification and thereafter, as a matter of practice, fresh FIR was registered by the Central Bureau Crl. Misc. No. M-5144 of 2009 [ 3] of Investigation to carry on with the investigation. In fact, the petitioners are effluent persons, who have minted tons of money in this illegal trade and in case they are directed to be released on bail pending trial, there are every chances of winning the witnesses.
Having heard learned counsel for the parties, I do not find any merit in the present petitions. Considering the seriousness of the allegations against the petitioners, who were closely associated with the main accused, in illegal transfer of human organs in complete violation of the provisions of the Act, I do not find any reason to direct release of the petitioners on bail pending trial.
Accordingly, the petitions are dismissed.
(Rajesh Bindal) Judge 2.7.2009 mk