Patna High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Criminal Miscellaneous No.30992 of 2013 ====================================================== Ahmad Ashfaque Karim, aged about 57 years, son of Late Ahmad Karim, resident of Mohalla- Samanpura, Aashiana Road, P.S. Shastri Nagar, District-Patna Versus .... .... Petitioner The State of Bihar through Vigilance .... .... Opposite Party ====================================================== With Criminal Miscellaneous No.32011 of 2013 ====================================================== Tanvir Alam @ Tanwir Alam, son of Mofil Ahmad, resident of village- Mohammedpur, P.S. Tajpur, District- Samastipur Versus .... .... Petitioner The State of Bihar through Vigilance .... .... Opposite Party ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR ORAL ORDER --------------------- 4 30-10-2013 Since in both the aforesaid bail petitions, accused/petitioners are seeking bail in one case i.e. Shastri Nagar P.S. Case No.213 of 2013, both bail petitions were heard
Decision
together and are being disposed of by the common order. Heard Sri B.Venkatasubramanium Giri, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of petitioner Ahmad Ashfaque Karim in Cr.Misc.No.30992 of 2013 and Sri Akhileshwar Prasad Singh, learned Senior Counsel, who was assisted by Mr. Ashhar Mustafa, learned counsel for the petitioner Tanvir Alam @ Tanwir Alam in Cr.Misc. No.32011 of 2013 and also Sri Anjani Kumar, learned Addl. Advocate 2 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 2 / 9 General no.10 on behalf of the State. Short fact of the case is that both the petitioners were apprehended by the police on 15.06.2013 on an information that question and answer-sheets in relation to M.B.B.S. Examination 2013-14 in respect of Private Medical College Entrance Test , scheduled to be held on 16.06.2013 were being sold at the residence of accused Ahmad Ashfaque Karim. After the information received regarding sale of question and answer- sheets , a team was constituted, even the services of the Executive Magistrate was obtained. In the raid, accused Ahmad Ashfaque Karim was apprehended. At the residential house of Ahmad Ashfaque Karim other persons, who were either aspirants or guardian of students, were also apprehended for the time being and on query disclosure was made that the petitioners after accepting the huge amount i.e. to the tune of Rs. 15,00,000/- to Rs.30,00,000/-, were giving assurance to the aspirants for admission in Katihar Medical College, of which petitioner Ahmad Ashfaque Karim was Chairman. In search, huge currency notes were recovered from the house of the petitioner Ahmad Ashfaque Karim. Besides this, a packet containing questions and answer-sheets of M.B.B.S. Examination 2013 which was scheduled to be held on 3 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 3 / 9 16.06.2013 was also recovered. In search, besides huge currency notes i.e. to the tune of Rs.1, 65, 20,000/-( one Crore Sixty Five Lakhs and twenty thousand only) , currency note counting machine was also recovered. Before the Investigating Officer, number of persons, who were present at the residence of the petitioner Ahmad Ashfaque Karim disclosed the fact that petitioners were taking huge amount for admission in Katihar Medical College. So far accused Tanvir Alam is concerned, it was alleged that he was closely associated with accused Ahmad Ashfaque Karim and he was also instrumental in getting the huge amount from the aspirants or guardian of the students. Thereafter, an F.I.R. vide Shastri Nagar P.S.Case No.213 of 2013 was instituted for the offence under Sections 406,420,467,468,469, 471, 120B, 384, 353 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Section 10 of Bihar Examination Control Act, Sections 25(1-B)A, 26 and 30 of the Arms Act. During the search, Arms and Ammunitions were also recovered from the house of petitioner and, as such, provision of Arms Act was also included in the F.I.R. Sri Giri, learned Senior Counsel , while pressing the bail petition, submits that so far both the petitioners are concerned, against them investigation is complete and 4 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 4 / 9 chargesheet has already been submitted in the month of September,2013 and, as such, by keeping the petitioners behind the bar, no purpose would be served . He further submits that even though allegation has been made regarding forgery of the documents, there is no material on record to suggest that there is commission of such offence. He further submits that time without number, it has been held that while considering the bail petition, personal liberty of accused is to be examined. He submits that in view of the fact that investigation is complete, petitioners are entitled to be released on bail. He undertakes that whatever condition is imposed, petitioners are ready to abide by such condition. In respect of recovery of Arms and ammunitions, it was submitted by Sri Giri, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner Ahmad Ashfaque Karim that arms were licensee. Though the petitioner had tried to convince the Investigating Officer by way of producing his licence/ documents, same were not taken note by the Investigating Officer. Sri Akhileshwar Prasad Singh, learned Senior Counsel in case of accused Tanvir Alam has submitted that in the F.I.R. itself, an incorrect and false averment was made to the extent that the petitioner was alleged to be associated with the 5 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 5 / 9 petitioner since last 20-22 years. He submits that on the basis of documents available on record i.e. Annexure-5 to the petition, it is evident that up to the year 2009, the petitioner Tanvir Alam was working with His Excellency, Hon’ble A.R. Kidwai, Ex Governor of State of Haryana. He has tried to persuade this Court by placing Annexure-5 to the petition, which is a certificate issued under the signature of Hon’ble A.R.Kidwai. He has also placed Annexure-4 to the petition, which according to learned counsel for the petitioner, is a salary-slip in respect of petitioner Tanvir Alam, while he was at Haryana. He further submits that so far as petitioner Tanvir Alam is concerned, save and except the allegation that he was associated with the main accused, there is no other material against him and nothing has been recovered from the possession of the petitioner. He also submits that in view of completion of investigation, no purpose would be served by keeping the petitioners behind the bar. Sri Anjani Kumar, learned Addl. Advocate General no.10 has appeared in both the cases. He has vehemently opposed the prayer of the petitioners. In this case, earlier by order dated 13.09.2013 case diary was called for, which has been received and kept on record. Learned Addl. Advocate General, while referring to the materials available in the case 6 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 6 / 9 diary submits that there is sufficient material to show complicity of both the petitioners. He further submits that it is a glaring case, in which only on the basis of accepting illegal huge amount, unsuitable candidates were being admitted in the Katihar Medical College and by virtue of allowing such admission, the petitioners were playing fraud with life of entire society. For admission, there was no requirement of merit but only requirement was to obtain huge amount, which has been established during investigation. He further submits that on the first day of search of the house of the petitioner, a huge amount i.e. more than 1,65,00,000/- was recovered and subsequently again a huge amount with other documents ; such as used answer-sheets of earlier examination were also recovered. He further submits that recovery of “Currency Notes Counting Machine” from the residential house of the accused Ahmad Ashfaque Karim is itself sufficient to draw an inference that both the petitioners were running a racket to obtain huge amount for providing admission to the aspirants in private Medical Colleges through illegal means. He further submits that in this case, so far petitioners are concerned, chargesheet has already been submitted and within very short period , the prosecution will take steps to conclude the trial of the case and, 7 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 7 / 9 as such, there is no ground for enlarging the petitioners on bail. He further submits that of course, chargesheet against both the petitioners has been submitted but investigation in respect of other accused persons are still continuing. On the aforesaid ground, he has prayed for rejection of bail of both the petitioners. Besides hearing learned counsel for the parties, I have also perused the materials available on record including the case diary. From the materials available on record, it is evident that while raid was conducted, from the house of petitioner Ahmad Ashfaque Karim, one personal diary was also recovered. In the said diary, names of number of aspirants were mentioned and even details of those persons, who had earlier given the amount, were also mentioned in the said diary. During investigation, it was inquired as to whether the names, which were mentioned in the said diary were correct or not and it was found that the persons, whose names and Roll Numbers were mentioned in the personal diary of the petitioner, had already taken admission in Katihar Medical College in earlier Session or were candidates of Private Medical College Entrance Test, 2013. During investigation in their statements, though witnesses have not stated regarding exact amount of payment to the accused 8 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 8 / 9 petitioners, but have said that most of the candidates had paid huge amount for admission. In the diary certain indications were also made regarding payment of the amount by the candidates or guardian of the aspirants. After registering the F.I.R., statements of witnesses, who were found present at the time of raid in the house of petitioner Ahmad Ashfaque Karim, were recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and they have categorically stated that some of them had paid Rs.10 Lacs on the same day and from one of the witnesses Rs.10 Lacs was recovered at the time of search itself. At least four witnesses have been examined and their statements under Section 164 of the Cr.P.C. were recorded and they all have corroborated regarding the allegations. Prima facie, on the basis of materials available on record, the Court is of the opinion that at least on merit, there is no point for granting bail. So far the plea, which has been taken by learned counsel for the petitioners that after completion of investigation, there is no reason for keeping the petitioners behind the Bar, is concerned, the Court is of the opinion that since the investigation in respect of other accused persons is still continuing and the nature of accusation and recovery of huge amount from the house of the petitioner, one can presume that if at this stage, the petitioners 9 Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.30992 of 2013 (4) dt.30-10-2013 9 / 9 are enlarged on bail, there is every possibility that investigation in respect of other points may be interfered with. Moreover, Sri Anjani Kumar, learned Addl. Advocate General no.10 has submitted that the prosecution will take all steps and the trial may be concluded within six months. Be that as it may, fact remains that the investigation is still continuing against others as well as considering the nature of accusation, the Court is of the opinion that it is not a fit case for grant of bail. Accordingly, the prayer for bail in both the cases stands rejected. NKS/- (Rakesh Kumar, J)