Gujarat High Court
Alkeshbhai Chhatrasinh Bakaliya vs State Of Gujarat on 29 August, 2022
Author: Nikhil S. Kariel
Bench: Nikhil S. Kariel
R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 11678 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 11746 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 11747 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12503 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12504 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12505 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12506 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12507 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12508 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12509 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12510 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12511 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12512 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12513 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12532 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12533 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12862 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12863 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12864 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 12866 of 2022
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R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 13824 of 2022
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ALKESHBHAI CHHATRASINH BAKALIYA
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
Page 1 of 18
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R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022
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Appearance:
MR MB PARIKH(576) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR MITESH AMIN, PUBLIC PROSECUTOR with MR RONAK RAVAL, APP
for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NIKHIL S. KARIEL
Date : 29/08/2022
ORAL ORDER
1. Heard Mr.M.B.Parikh, learned advocate on behalf of the applicant and Mr.Mitesh Amin, learned Public Prosecutor with Mr.Ronak Raval, learned APP for the respondent State.
2. By way of these applications, the applicant is apprehending his arrest in connection with (i) First Information Report No.III - 7 of 2018 registered with Vejalpur Police Station, District Panchmahal, (ii) CR No.11207031220085 of 2022 registered with Jambughoda Police Station, District Panchmahal, (iii) CR No.III - 304 of 2018 registered with Vejalpur Police Station, District Panchmahal, (iv) CR No.III - 192 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (v) CR No.III
- 49 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, Page 2 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 District Panchmahal, (vi) CR No.11207048200127 of 2020 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (vii) CR No.III - 46 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (viii) CR No.III - 567 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (ix) CR No.325 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (x) CR No.III
- 11207048200140 of 2020 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xi) CR No.III - 40 of 2017 regisetred with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xii) CR No.III - 320 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xiii) CR No.III - 245 of 2019 registered with Jawaharnagar Police Station, District Vadodara, (xiv) CR No.III - 41 of 2017 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xv) CR No.III - 571 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xvi) CR No.III - 465 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xvii) CR No.III - 362 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Page 3 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 Panchmahal, (xviii) CR No.III - 185 of 2016 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xix) CR No.III - 364 of 2016 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xx) CR No.III - 364 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, and (xxi) CR No.III - 11188011220026 of 2022 registered with Sathamba Police Station, District Aravalli seeks to be enlarged on anticipatory bail.
3. At the outset, it is required to be mentioned that having regard to the orders passed by the learned Co- ordinate Bench whereby, the present applicant had been enlarged on anticipatory bail in 9 FIRs and further considering the fact that the inquiry had been ordered by the Director General of Police, CID Crime and Railways in respect of implicating the present applicant in some of the FIRs, this Court vide orders of various dates in respect of the applications while issuing Rule had protected the present applicant and whereas the said orders has enured in favour of the present applicant till date. 4, Mr. Parikh, learned advocate on behalf of the Page 4 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 applicant would submit that present set of petitions concerns the allegations under the Gujarat Prohibition Act against the present applicant lodged in four different districts i.e. Panchmahals, Vadodara, Dahod and Arvalli. Learned advocate would submit that in almost all the FIRs allegation which has been levelled against the present applicant is of providing prohibited liquor in question, more particularly, the allegation being that present applicant being the owner of liquor outlet in the State of Madhya Pradesh had provided the liquor from the said outselt. Learned Advocate would submit that since, beyond the statement of co-accused, there is no material to implicate present applicant.
5. It is also submitted by learned advocate on this regard that the brother of the applicant had submitted a representation to the Director General of Police, CID Crime and Railways and whereas preliminary inquiry appears to have been conducted by the said officer and whereas the same was with regard to the present applicant being arraigned as accused in 34 FIRs. It further appears that the Page 5 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 Director General of Police, CID Crime and Railways, after preliminary inquiry, had inter-alia opined that the investigating officers were not very serious as regards the investigation and based upon such finding, the concerned officer had directed the departmental action to be taken against the investigating officers concerned.
6. Mr. Parikh, learned advocate on behalf of the applicant would also draw attention of this Court to the orders of learned Co-ordinate Bench whereby learned Co- ordinate Bench of this Court had been pleased to release the present applicant on anticipatory bail in connection with 9 FIRs. Learned advocate would submit that learned Co- ordinate Bench had also inter-alia noted that there was no material available to implicate the present applicant in the FIRs as accused. Having regard to such submissions, learned advocate would submit that since there is no material available with the investigating officer, this Court may direct the release of the present applicant on anticipatory bail.
7. This application has been vehemently opposed by Page 6 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 Mr.Mitesh Amin, learned Public Prosecutor with Mr.Ronak Raval, learned APP. Learned Public Prosecutor would submit that present applicant has been arraigned as accused in approximately 55 FIRs spanning a period of around 11 years and whereas in some of the FIRs the applicant had been arrested also.
8. Learned Public Prosecutor would submit that prima facie in view of the fact that present applicant had been arraigned as accused in such large number of FIRs belies the submission of false implication by the applicant.
9. At this stage, it is also required to be mentioned here that this Court had requested learned Public Prosecutor in view of the peculiar facts of these cases to peruse the material available against the applicant in the present group of FIRs and opine as to material on the basis of which present applicant has been implicated, learned Public Prosecutor, Mr.Amin has very fairly submitted that apart from the statement of the co-accused, there is no other material as of now on the basis of which the present Page 7 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 applicant could be said to be accused in the FIRs in question. Learned Public Prosecutor would further submit that prima facie it appears that present applicant is very intelligent operator and whereas while the investigating officer could not gather material against the present applicant but the fact remains that the applicant having been arraigned as accused in such large number of FIRs spanning over a decade and also spanning about four different districts, the statement on the part of the learned advocate for the applicant that the present applicant has been falsely implicated may not be acceptable.
10. Learned Public Prosecutor would also submit that this Court had also in some of the applications directed the Superintendent of Police to look into the material collected by the investigating officer for arraigning the present applicant as accused and whereas learned Public Prosecutor would submit that the reports have been tendered in so far as the applications where such direction has been passed. Learned Public Prosecutor would further submit that having regard to the aspect considered by the Page 8 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 concerned Superintendent of Police in the reports tendered to this Court and further independently, looking to the material available with the investigating officer, it appears that as noted hereinabove that apart from the statement of the co-accused, there is no other material to implicate the present applicant in the FIRs in question.
11. Having regard to the submissions advanced by both the learned advocate for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor and having perused the materials and also the documents on record, this Court deems it appropriate not to discuss in detail the evidence but the following relevant aspects have been taken into consideration by this Court.
(1) It appears that apart from the statement of the co-accused, there is no other material as of now on the basis of which the present applicant could be arraigned as accused in the FIRs.
(2). It does not appear that one of the most important aspect herein i.e. ownership of the Page 9 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 liquor outlet in the State of Madhya Pradesh being of the present applicant has been looked into by any of the investigating officer and whereas there is no material in support of such allegation, more particularly, the common thread running through almost all the FIRs being the allegation that prohibited liquor has been supplied by the applicant from his liquor outlet in the State of Madhya Pradesh.
(3). Apart from the same, there also does not appear any material in the nature of call details record or any other material whereby, it could be alleged that the present applicant was instrumental in supplying prohibited liquor to other co-accused.
(4) The applicant having been released by the learned Coordinate Bench in around 9 FIRs.
12. Having regard to such prima facie observations of this Court, inspite of the fact that there are large number of FIRs filed against the applicant, in the considered opinion of Page 10 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 this Court, this is a fit case to exercise discretion in favour of the applicant. At the same time, considering the submissions made by learned Public Prosecutor, Mr. Amin, more particularly, also with a view to ensure the presence of the applicant in the State may either not hinder investigation or the applicant gets an opportunity to continue alleged illegal activity, therefore, to balance the equity, stringent condition is required to be imposed upon the applicant.
13. Having regard to the circumstances in question, and considering the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Siddharam Satlingappa Mhetre v. State of Maharashtra and Ors. reported in (2011)1 SCC 694, this Court is inclined to consider this application.
14. In the result, the present applications are allowed by directing that in the event of applicant herein being arrested pursuant to (i) First Information Report No.III - 7 of 2018 registered with Vejalpur Police Station, District Panchmahal, (ii) CR No.11207031220085 of 2022 registered Page 11 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 with Jambughoda Police Station, District Panchmahal, (iii) CR No.III - 304 of 2018 registered with Vejalpur Police Station, District Panchmahal, (iv) CR No.III - 192 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (v) CR No.III - 49 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (vi) CR No.11207048200127 of 2020 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (vii) CR No.III - 46 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (viii) CR No.III - 567 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (ix) CR No.325 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (x) CR No.III - 11207048200140 of 2020 regisetered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xi) CR No.III - 40 of 2017 regisetered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xii) CR No.III
- 320 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xiii) CR No.III - 245 of 2019 registered with Jawaharnagar Police Station, District Vadodara, (xiv) CR No.III - 41 of 2017 registered with Morva (H) Police Page 12 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 Station, District Panchmahal, (xv) CR No.III - 571 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xvi) CR No.III - 465 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xvii) CR No.III - 362 of 2019 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xviii) CR No.III - 185 of 2016 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xix) CR No.III - 364 of 2016 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, (xx) CR No.III
- 364 of 2018 registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, and (xxi) CR No.III - 11188011220026 of 2022 registered with Sathamba Police Station, District Aravalli, the applicant shall be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand only) with one surety of like amount in each applications, on the following conditions:
(a) shall cooperate with the investigation and make himself available for interrogation whenever required;Page 13 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022
R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022
(b) shall remain present at the concerned Police Stations on 5.9.2022 between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. so far as First Information Report No.III
- 7 of 2018 registered with Vejalpur Police Station, District Panchmahal, CR No.11207031220085 of 2022 registered with Jambughoda Police Station, District Panchmahal and CR No.III - 304 of 2018 registered with Vejalpur Police Station, District Panchmahal are concerned, on 6.9.2022 so far as CR No.III - 192 of 2018, CR No.III - 49 of 2018, CR No.11207048200127 of 2020, CR No.III - 46 of 2019, CR No.III - 567 of 2019, CR No.325 of 2019, CR No.III - 11207048200140 of 2020, CR No.III - 40 of 2017, CR No.III - 320 of 2018 all registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal are concerned, on 7.9.2022 so far as CR No.III - 245 of 2019 registered with Jawaharnagar Police Station, District Vadodara is Page 14 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 concerned, on 8.9.2022 so far as CR No.III - 41 of 2017, CR No.III - 571 of 2019, CR No.III - 465 of 2019, CR No.III - 362 of 2019, CR No.III - 185 of 2016, CR No.III - 364 of 2016, CR No.III - 364 of 2018 all registered with Morva (H) Police Station, District Panchmahal, on 9.9.2022 so far as CR No.III - 11188011220026 of 2022 registered with Sathamba Police Station, District Aravalli is concerned;
(c) shall mark the presence before the concerned Police Stations once in a month for three months and shall not enter the State of Gujarat for six months except for the purpose of investigation or Court proceedings or as and when called by the Investigating Officer concerned;
(d) shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the fact of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Page 15 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 Court or to any police officer;
(e) shall not obstruct or hamper the police investigation and not to play mischief with the evidence collected or yet to be collected by the Police;
(f) shall at the time of execution of bond, furnish the address to the Investigating Officer and the Court concerned and shall not change his residence till the final disposal of the case or till further orders;
(g) shall not leave India without the permission of the Court and, if having passport shall surrender the same before the Trial Court within a week.
15. Despite this order, it would be open for the Investigating Agency to file an application for police remand of the applicant to the competent Magistrate, if he thinks it just and proper and learned Magistrate would decide it on merits. The applicant shall remain present before the Page 16 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 learned Magistrate on the first date of hearing of such application and on all subsequent occasions, as may be directed by the learned Magistrate. This would be sufficient to treat the accused in the judicial custody for the purpose of entertaining application of the prosecution for police remand. This is, however, without prejudice to the right of the accused to seek stay against an order of remand, if ultimately granted, and the power of the learned Magistrate to consider such a request in accordance with law. It is clarified that the applicant, even if, remanded to the police custody, upon completion of such period of police remand, shall be set free immediately, subject to other conditions of this anticipatory bail order.
16. It is clarified that all the observations in so far as the observation with regard to the preliminary inquiry conducted by the Director General of Police, CID Crime and Railways are concerned, the same are prima facie in nature and whereas neither should be considered as the Court having been confirmed such finding by the concerned officer Page 17 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022 R/CR.MA/11678/2022 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2022 nor such observation should influence learned Trial Court while taking up hearing of the FIRs in question.
Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent in each applications. Direct service is permitted.
(NIKHIL S. KARIEL,J) H.M. PATHAN Page 18 of 18 Downloaded on : Thu Sep 01 21:41:12 IST 2022