Judgment · High Court

Heard DR.B Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. BS Sinha, l earned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State. The court on its won impleade d the Bar Council of Assam etc. to obtain their views. The petitioner herein is the lawyer by profession and a member of the Goalpara L aw Association. The FIR has been lodged against the petitioner by the District J udge of Goalpara, alleging that on 24.03.2011, after making his forcible entry i nto the chamber of the District Judge at about 6 pm, threatened the informant wi th dire consequences and also rebuked him. The aforesaid FIR has been registered as Goalpara Police Station Case No.114 of 2011 under section 448/ 186/ 353/ 294 / 506 of the IPC. Hence, the accused Keshab Ranjan Nath is seeking pre-arrest bail apprehending hi s arrest in the aforesaid case. Since, the petitioner is a lawyer under the Bar Council of Assam, Mr. BC Das, le arned senior counsel appeared on behalf of BCA. Mr. Das, learned senior counsel submitted that since the matter has come to the knowledge of the Bar Council of Assam, it will be placed before the General Coun cil and appropriate decision will be taken. During the course of hearing, Dr. Ahmed submitted that the petitioner is a senio r member of the Bar and he had to enter the chamber of the District Judge after a long wait just to enquire about the signature on the cheque against the MAC aw ard of his client. Dr. Ahmed further submitted that no threat was given to the D istrict Judge. However, the FIR has been lodged with exaggerated allegations jus t because the lawyer entered the chamber after office hours. Apparently, there is no allegation of physical assault. Besides this, there is n o evidence in the case diary that the threat has been repeated. At the same time , the petitioner is a lawyer by profession and as such there is less possibility of his interference in the investigation or jumping bail. Having regard to all the aspects of the matter, prayer for anticipatory bail is accepted. The I.O. is directed to release the petitioner above on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 5,000/- to his satisfaction in the event of his arrest in connection with th e aforesaid case. The petitioner is further directed to make himself available for interrogation as and when required by the I.O. With the aforesaid directions, the anticipatory bail application stands disposed of.