Allahabad High Court
Rajesh Khantwal vs State Of U.P. on 19 October, 2020
Author: Siddharth
Bench: Siddharth
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Court No. - 70 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 35221 of 2020 Applicant :- Rajesh Khantwal Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Praveen Kumar Singh,Anurag Vajpeyi Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Siddharth,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned AGA for the State.
Order on Criminal Misc. Exemption Application This exemption application is allowed.
Order on Criminal Misc. Bail Application The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant, Rajesh Khantwal, with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 004 of 2020, under Sections 120-B, 420, 467, 468 I.P.C, Police Station- Noida Sector-58, District- Gautam Budh Nagar, during pendency of trial.
This bail application has been directly filed before this court under Section 439 Cr.P.C when the courts at Gautam Budh Nagar were not properly functioning. Therefore the counsel for the applicant submits that the powers under Section 439 Cr.P.C should be exercised in this case by the High Court. His submission is that the powers under Section 439 Cr.P.C can be exercised by this court directly as held in paragraph 20 of the judgment of Sandeep Kumar Bafna vs. State of Maharashtra and Another, 2014(16) SCC 623, wherein Apex Court has held that the High Court has power and jurisdiction to entertain the plea of surrender and also bail thereafter directly without compelling the accused to first approach the court of Sessions. In the aforesaid judgment the Apex Court has considered the mandate of Article 21 also.
After going through the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Sandeep Kumar Bafna (Supra) this court finds that the Bombay High Court rejected the accused's bail application on the ground that it had no jurisdiction accept the custody of the accused, the Supreme Court directed the High Court to accept the custody and decide the bail application on merit, on the basis that no provision categorically prohibits the production of accused before either of the courts.
After considering the submission made by the counsel for the applicant, this court finds that in the present case no issue of surrender of accused is involved. Accused-applicant is already in jail since 28.07.2019. Only question of consideration of the bail application to the accused applicant is before this court since he has not been able to approach the court of Sessions on account of the lockdown consequent to Covid-19 scare.
Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary remedies and therefore this court is inclined to consider the present bail application in exercise of its power under Section 439 Cr.P.C., but without making it a precedent for normal times.
It is urged that applicant is Managing Director of a company, that provides digital platform for plying taxies; informant is said to have invested Rs.62,100/-. It is contended that as per prosecution case, informant did not receive the returns from the company on his investment; it is urged that allegation on face value does not constitute the offence, at the best it is a business failure, no criminal liability can be fastened upon the applicant; applicant is languishing in jail since 28.07.2019 and in case he is enlarged on bail he will not misuse the liberty of bail.
Learned A.G.A. opposed the prayer for bail but could not dispute the aforesaid facts as argued by the learned counsel for the applicant.
Having considered the material on record, larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the dictum of Apex Court in the case of Dataram Singh Vs. State of U.P. and another, reported in (2018) 3 SCC 22 and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, let the applicant involved in the aforesaid crime be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions that :-
1. The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating/ pressurizing the witnesses, during the investigation or trial.
2. The applicant shall cooperate in the trial sincerely without seeking any adjournment.
3. The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail.
4. In case the applicant has been enlarged on short term bail as per the order of committee constituted under the orders of Hon'ble Supreme Court his bail shall be effective after the period of short term bail comes to an end.
5. The applicant shall be enlarged on bail on execution of personal bond without sureties till normal functioning of the courts is restored. The accused will furnish sureties to the satisfaction of the court below within a month after normal functioning of the courts are restored. In case court below is functioning normally, this condition will not apply and applicant shall be enlarged on bail on execution of bail bond and two sureties to the satisfaction of the court below.
6. The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad.
7. The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.
Order Date :- 19.10.2020 SS