Allahabad High Court
Hari Raj Singh vs State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. ... on 30 September, 2022
Author: Rajesh Singh Chauhan
Bench: Rajesh Singh Chauhan
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH ?Court No. - 13 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 438 CR.P.C. No. - 1651 of 2022 Applicant :- Hari Raj Singh Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Home Deptt. U.P. Civil Sectt. Lko. And Another Counsel for Applicant :- Sandeep Kumar Srivastava,Vinay Kumar Rawat,Vivek Kumar Misra Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Rajesh Singh Chauhan,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Vinay Kumar Sahi, learned Additional Government Advocate for the State-respondents.
This is the second anticipatory bail application of the present applicant. The first anticipatory bail application of the present applicant bearing Criminal Misc. Anticipatory Bail Application (U/S 438 Cr.P.C.) No.601 of 2022; Hari Raj Singh vs. State of U.P. & others was allowed vide order dated 26.04.2022 passed by Hon'ble Krishan Pahal, J.
Since the Court (Hon'ble Mr. Justice Krishan Pahal) is sitting at Allahabad, therefore, this second anticipatory bail application has been put up before the regular Court in terms of order of Hon'ble the Chief Justice passed on administrative side.
This second anticipatory bail application has been filed by the present applicant (Hari Raj Singh) apprehending his arrest in Case Crime No.666 of 2014, under Sections 406, 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 & 120-B I.P.C., Police Station-Gomti Nagar District-Lucknow.
Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that the present applicant has been falsely implicated in this case as he has not committed any offence as alleged in the prosecution story so narrated in the First Information Report (in short F.I.R.).
Attention has been drawn towards Annexure No.2 of the bail application, which is an anticipatory bail order dated 26.04.2022 passed by this Court in Criminal Misc. Anticipatory Bail Application (U/S 438 Cr.P.C.) No.601 of 2022; Hari Raj Singh vs. State of U.P. & others, in the case of present applicant. The order dated 26.04.2022 reads as under:-
"Heard learned counsel for the applicant, learned AGA for the State and perused the material available on record.
The present anticipatory bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant in Case Crime No. 666 2014, under Sections 406, 419, 420 IPC, Police Station Gomti Nagar, District Lucknow, with a prayer to enlarge him on anticipatory bail.
As per the allegations in the FIR, the first informant paid Rs. 2.5 crores to Diwan Singh in order to get advance. The applicant is said to be mediator of the said deed and is said to have arranged the meeting of the first informant with co-accused person, Diwan Singh. In all, they are said to have duped the first informant to the tune of Rs. 89 lakhs.
Learned counsel for the applicant has further submitted that co-accused person, Diwan Singh has already been granted anticipatory bail by Co-ordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 21.1.2022 passed in Criminal Misc. Anticipatory Bail Application U/S 438 Cr.P.C. No. 12623 of 2021. Therefore, the present applicant is also entitled for anticipatory bail. Charge sheet has been filed. There is no criminal history of applicant. Learned counsel for the applicant undertakes that he will cooperate in the investigation failing which the State can move appropriate application for vacation of the interim protection.
The prayer for anticipatory bail has been vehemently opposed by learned A.G.A. However, the aforesaid factual aspect of the parity to the co-accused has not been disputed by him.
On due consideration to the arguments advance by learned counsel for the applicant as well as learned A.G.A. and considering the nature of accusations and antecedents of the applicant, the applicant, as an interim measure, is liable to be enlarged on anticipatory bail on the ground of parity and in view of the Constitution Bench judgment of Supreme Court in the case of "Sushila Aggarwal Vs. State (NCT of Delhi)-2020 SCC online SC 98". The future contingencies regarding the anticipatory bail being granted to applicant shall also be taken care of as per the aforesaid judgment of the Apex Court.
In view of the above, the anticipatory bail application of the applicant is allowed.
In the event of arrest, let the accused-applicant Hari Raj Singh be released forthwith in the aforesaid case crime (supra) on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties of Rs. 50,000/- each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:-
1. that the applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by a police officer as and when required;
2. that the applicant shall not, directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence;
3. that the applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the court;
4. that in default of any of the conditions mentioned above, the investigating officer shall be at liberty to file appropriate application for cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to the applicant;
5. that the applicant shall not pressurize/ intimidate the prosecution witness;
6. that the applicant shall appear before the trial court on each date fixed unless personal presence is exempted;
7. that in case of breach of any of the above conditions the court below shall have the liberty to cancel the bail.
It is made clear that observations made hereinabove are exclusively for deciding the instant anticipatory bail application and shall not affect the trial or deciding the regular bail application."
Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that not only the main accused Diwan Singh has been granted anticipatory bail but other co-accused Atul Kumar Tiwari has also been granted anticipatory bail on 22.02.2022 passed in Criminal Misc. Anticipatory Bail Application (U/S 438 Cr.P.C.) No.148 of 2022; Atul Kumar Tiwari vs. State of U.P. & others. The aforesaid co-accused Atul Kumar Tiwari has been granted bail in added sections which have been added during investigation.
Learned counsel for the applicant has further submitted that the main accused, Diwan Singh, has paid almost all the amounts to the complainant which has been indicated in the F.I.R. itself. The charge-sheet has been filed under the added sections. Therefore, he has further submitted that since the present applicant has already been granted anticipatory bail in the same case crime and other co-accused including the main accused have been granted anticipatory bail, therefore, the present applicant may be granted anticipatory bail in the added sections.
Learned counsel for the applicant has further submitted that since the charge-sheet has been filed the applicant shall co-operate with the trial proceedings in the manner as he has co-operated with the investigation and shall not misuse the liberty of bail, if so granted.
On the other hand, learned Additional Government Advocate has opposed the aforesaid request of learned counsel for the applicant but he could not dispute the aforesaid contention of learned counsel for the applicant.
Therefore, without entering into merits of the issue, having considered the arguments of learned counsel for the parties, the fact that the present applicant has already been granted anticipatory bail in the same case crime number, the main accused, Diwan Singh and other co-accused, Atul Kumar Tiwar, have been granted anticipatory bail in the added sections and the undertaking of the present applicant that he shall co-operate with the trial proceedings, I find it appropriate that liberty of the present applicant may be protected till conclusion of trial proceedings in view of the dictum of Hon'ble Apex Court rendered in re: Sushila Aggarwal Vs. State (NCT of Delhi)-2020 SCC online SC 98.
Therefore, it is directed that in the event of arrest, applicant,Hari Raj Singh, shall be released on anticipatory bail in the aforesaid case crime number till conclusion of trial on his furnishing a personal bond of Rs.50,000/- with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the arresting authority/ court concerned with the following conditions:-
1. that the applicant shall not, directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence;
2. that the applicant shall not leave India without prior permission of the court;
3. that the applicant shall not pressurize/ intimidate the prosecution witnesses and shall not tamper with evidence during trial;
4. that the applicant shall appear before the trial court on each date fixed unless personal presence is exempted;
5. that in case of breach of any of the above conditions the court below shall have the liberty to cancel the bail;
6. that in default of any of the conditions mentioned above, the learned counsel for the State shall be at liberty to file appropriate application for cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to the applicant.
Before parting with, it is expected that the trial shall be concluded with expedition, strictly in accordance with law, without adjourning the case for any unnecessary reason. Further, the learned trial court may take all coercive measures, as per law, if either of the parties do not co-operate in the trial properly.
In view of the aforesaid terms, this anticipatory bail application is allowed.
Order Date :- 30.9.2022 [Rajesh Singh Chauhan,J.] Suresh/