Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Lal Chand Aswal vs State Of Rajasthan on 7 April, 2015
Bench: V. Gopala Gowda, C. Nagappan
1
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(s). 578 OF 2015
(Arising out of S.L.P.(Crl.) No. 1813 of 2015)
LAL CHAND ASWAL ... APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS
STATE OF RAJASTHAN ...RESPONDENT(S)
O R D E R
Leave granted.
Heard Mr. Kapil Sibal, learned senior counsel for the appellant and Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned Solicitor General of India, appearing for the respondent-State of Rajasthan.
Our attention was drawn to the report, the additional chargesheet report and various documents which are part of the chargesheets. Learned senior counsel for the appellant placing strong reliance upon the chargesheet and the documents would contend that prima facie the case of the demand and acceptance of gratification is not made out by the respondent. The appellant is in judicial custody since Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by Sushil Kumar Rakheja Date: 2015.04.07 26.09.2014 (four days later he was superannuated i.e. 17:10:11 IST Reason: on 30.09.2014), the trial court as well as the High Court rejected twice the bail applications filed by 2 the appellant herein on the ground that there is prima facie case made out against the appellant herein, therefore, he is not entitled to be enlarged on bail.
The said contention of the learned senior counsel on behalf of the appellant is being seriously countered by learned Solicitor General of India inviting our attention to Section 161 CrPC Statements and other related documents which are part of the chargesheet. Further, he made submission that investigation of the case in relation to other files to collect evidence against the appellant herein is under progress. If at this stage the appellant is enlarged on bail there is a serious apprehension in the mind of the Investigating Officer that he would not be able to conduct fair and proper investigation thereby the justice will suffer, hence, he seriously opposed the grant of bail to the appellant herein.
Since this is a bail application it would not be proper for us to record the finding with regard to the rival legal contentions urged at the Bar. Having heard learned senior counsel for the parties and perusing the chargesheet, additional chargesheet and the material evidence which is collected by the Investigating Officer in this case, the reasons 3 assigned by the trial court as well as the High Court rejecting the bail applications may not be correct at this stage. Therefore, having regard to the facts and circumstance of this case particularly the fact that the appellant is retired on 30.09.2014 and he has been in judicial custody for the last more than six months, it would be just and proper for this Court to grant him bail and, at the same time, to see that proper and fair investigation is conducted by the Investigating Officer, for this purpose certain stringent conditions, to be imposed upon the appellant, will do justice to both the parties. Hence, we pass the following Order. The appellant herein is enlarged on bail with the following conditions.
(i) The appellant shall not enter the State of Rajasthan particularly Jaipur city for a period of eight weeks and he is directed to stay at Chandigarh for a period of eight weeks from today;
(ii) He shall report at the concerned Police Station, which comes within the jurisdiction of his temporary residence during eight weeks, in Chandigarh twice a week;
(iii) He shall execute a surety bond for a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs with a surety of the like amount and he shall be enlarged on bail on furnishing of the surety to the learned trial Judge;
(iv) He shall furnish the details e.g. Phone/Mobile number, address where he will be 4 staying at Chandigarh to the concerned Investigating Officer.
(v) He shall cooperate with the Investigating Officer as and when required.
The Superintendent of Jail, where the appellant is housed, is directed to release the appellant immediately after furnishing the surety to the learned trial Judge.
With the aforesaid terms and conditions, the appeal is allowed.
...........................J. (V. GOPALA GOWDA) ..........................J. (C. NAGAPPAN) NEW DELHI, APRIL 7, 2015 5 OUT TODAY ITEM NO.3 COURT NO.11 SECTION II S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 1813/2015 (Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 23/02/2015 in CRMBA No. 1937/2015 passed by the High Court of Rajasthan At Jaipur) LAL CHAND ASWAL Petitioner(s) VERSUS STATE OF RAJASTHAN Respondent(s) (Interim relief and office report) Date : 07/04/2015 This petition was called on for hearing today. CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE V. GOPALA GOWDA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. NAGAPPAN For Petitioner(s) Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv.
Mr. A.M. Singhvi, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Swadeep H., Adv.
Mr. Vivek Jain, Adv.
Mr. Ankur Saigal, Adv.
Mr. Mahesh Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. E. C. Agrawala,Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Ranjit Kumar, Solicitor General Mr. S.S. Shamshery, Adv.
Mr. Amit Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Singh, Adv.
Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Adv.
Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R Leave granted.
The appeal is allowed in terms of the signed order. The appellant herein is enlarged on bail with the following conditions.6
(i) The appellant shall not enter the State of Rajasthan particularly Jaipur city for a period of eight weeks and he is directed to stay at Chandigarh for a period of eight weeks from today;
(ii) He shall report at the concerned Police Station, which comes within the jurisdiction of his temporary residence during eight weeks, in Chandigarh twice a week;
(iii) He shall execute a surety bond for a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs with a surety of the like amount and he shall be enlarged on bail on furnishing of the surety to the learned trial Judge;
(iv) He shall furnish the details e.g. Phone/Mobile number, address where he will be staying at Chandigarh to the concerned Investigating Officer.
(v) He shall cooperate with the Investigating Officer as and when required.
The Superintendent of Jail, where the appellant is housed, is directed to release the appellant immediately after furnishing the surety to the learned trial Judge.
(S. K. RAKHEJA) (MALA KUMARI SHARMA) COURT MASTER COURT MASTER
(Signed order is placed on the file)