Orissa High Court
BLAPL/2215/2019 on 23 December, 2020
Author: B.P.Routray
Bench: B.P.Routray
BLAPL No.2215 of 2019 15 23.12.2020 This is an application under Section 439 Cr.P.C. for grant of bail to the petitioner in connection with G.R.Case No.1769 (A)/01/02 of 2012-15-16 arising out of EOW Bhubaneswar P.S.Case No.5 of 2012 pending in the court of the learned Presiding Officer, O.P.I.D. Court, Sambalpur for alleged commission of offences under Sections 465/467/ 468/471/420/406/120-B of the I.P.C., Section 4/5/6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act and Section 6 of the O.P.I.D. Act. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that, he is inside custody since 6.5.2017 and in the meantime, one of the co-accused, namely, Binay Kumar Gupta has been released on bail by this Court in BLAPL No.31288 of 2012. It is further submitted that, this petitioner is mostly standing on the same footing with that Binay Kumar Gupta and as such keeping in view his period of custody, he should also be released on bail. It is also submitted that, trial has not yet begun though he is inside custody since long. Learned counsel for the State (O.P.I.D.) submits, on the other hand that, this petitioner is not only involved in this present case, but he has record of four previous cases of similar nature and this petitioner through the accused companies had network not only in Orissa, but in other parts of the country also. In respect of the present case, the accused companies of which the present petitioner was either the Director or Additional Director has siphoned around 50 crores by duping the poor investors of Orissa. It is also submitted that, the stated co-accused, Binay Kumar Gupta, who has been released on bail by this Court, was never standing on the similar footing with the present petitioner as this petitioner was at the level of management of the accused companies. Upon perusal of the copy of the chargsheet filed by the petitioner, it reveals that there were six accused persons including the present petitioner and three accused companies. Those accused companies are namely, M/s. Real Bond Marketing Ltd., Real Bond Building And Land Developers Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Rhines And Raavi Holdings & Credits Ltd. The present petitioner was the Director of M/s.Real Bond Marketing Ltd. and Manager of Real Bond Building And Land Developers Pvt. Ltd.. Initially the chargsheet was submitted on 12.12.2012 and the supplementary chargsheet has been submitted on 31.8.2017. As per the statements made in the chargsheets, an amount of Rs.50 Crores has been collected from different depositors of Orissa at various places like Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Rourkela and Salipur etc. by alluring the general public through different attractive schemes of deposit with promise for higher return with higher interest. It is further surfaced in course of investigation that, the accused companies were not authorized NBFC to receive deposits as clarified by the Reserve Bank of India. The present petitioner being in the position of the Director or Manager has withdrawn the money of the companies through self drawl cheques to his personal benefit and on the other hand, the accused companies have consistently defaulted to return the payment or interest thereof to the poor depositors as per the promise. As per the submission of the learned counsel for the State and supported by the statements made in the chargsheet, the amount siphoned to the personal benefit of the petitioner is to the tune of Rs.60,03,000/- out of the total amount alleged. Thus, having considered the period of custody of the petitioner (since 06.05.2017) and the maximum punishment prescribed for the offences and the stage of trial, I am inclined to release the petitioner on bail, but subject to condition. Keeping in view the amount misappropriated by the petitioner to his personal benefit, it is directed to release the petitioner on bail for Rs.50,000/-(fifty thousand) with three sureties each for the like amount to the satisfaction of the learned court below in seisin over the matter with further condition that one of such sureties shall be his relative and that, the petitioner shall furnish cash security of Rs.20,00,000/-(twenty lakhs) in the form of bank deposit and shall also furnish property security free from all encumbrances worth of Rs.40,03,000/- and that, he shall not dissuade any witness directly or indirectly by way of inducement, threat or promise acquainted with the facts of the case from disclosing such facts before the court or tamper with the evidence. Accordingly, the prayer for bail is allowed. The BLAPL is disposed of. Copy of this order be uploaded in the High Court's official website as per Court's Notice No.4587, dated 25.03.2020. .................................... B.P.Routray, J.
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