DHARAMVEER SINGH AND SHRI PAWAN GUJAR, ADVOCATES ) v. (BY SHRI PANKAJ DUBEY, STANDING COUNSEL)

ORDER This is first application under Section 439 of the Cr.P.C. for grant of bail. Applicant Mukesh Kumar Singhal was arrested on 30/3/2022 in Crime No. RC0082019A0009 registered at Central Bureau of Investigation, ACB Bhopal for the offence punishable under Sections 120-B r/w Sections 407, 420, 201 of the IPC and Section 13(1)(d) r/w 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act,

1988. Signature Not Verified SAN As per prosecution case, on 29/7/2019 Shri S.S. Rattan, DGM and Zonal Head, UCO Bank, Zonal Office, Bhopal lodged a written complaint 2 before CBI, ACB Bhopal averring that bank fraud was committed in UCO Bank, Morena Branch, during the period from 22/9/2016 to 6/6/2018 by sanctioning of 26 Loans amounting to Rs.13.17 Crore in the name of different borrowers against pledge of Warehouse Receipts (WHRs) of M/s Shri Ram Warehouse, Distt. Morena (MP). It is further alleged that the applicant, who was the brother of the owner of the said warehouse, fraudulently issued WHRs beyond the licensed capacity of the Warehouse in the name of different persons, who are mostly employees, relatives etc. of the warehouse owner and availed 26 Demand Loans from the Bank by presenting WHRs through different persons thereby misappropriated Bank’s fund and thus, defrauded UCO Bank to the tune of Rs.13.17 Crore. It is further alleged that the applicant and his brother unauthorizedly removed pledged goods without having release orders from the Bank. No inspection of Stock was carried out at the time of sanction of WHR Loans. During the physical inspection of stock by a team appointed by the Zonal office, it was found that the stock of commodities has been found much less than the WHR submitted to the Bank. Thus, the Warehouse owner conspired with the bank official and other persons, illegally removed the stocks from the warehouse and sold the same. On that, the Central Bureau Investigation, ACB Bhopal registered Crime No.RC0082019A0009 for the offence punishable under Section 120-B r/w Sections 407, 420, 201 of the IPC and Section 13(1)(d) r/w 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. During the investigation, it was found that co-accused Shri R.K. Sinha, who was working as Chief Manager, UCO Bank, Signature Not Verified SAN Morena Branch, Madhya Pradesh during the relevant period, abused his official position as he excessively financed WHRs of 6665 Metric Ton beyond the storage capacity of Warehouse. He financed WHRs of total 11630 MTs 3 whereas the licensed storage capacity of the said Warehouse was only 4965 Metric Ton. It was also revealed that Shri Ram Warehouse is the proprietorship firm and the Proprietor of this warehouse is the applicant Mukesh Kumar Singhal. He issued warehouse receipts of 11630 Metric Tons. While the licensed capacity of Shri Ram Warehouse was 4965 Metric Tons. Thus, he issued WHRs of 6665 Metric Ton beyond the storage capacity of the warehouse with fraudulent intention and on 17/9/2018, when the team of UCO Bank Officials has visited the warehouse, no commodity pertaining to UCO Bank loans against the warehouse receipts were found by the team in the warehouse. The applicant embezzled that grain in connivance with the other co- accused persons. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has falsely been implicated in the crime. The 26 loans were sanctioned to the persons namely Shankarlal, Darpan Gupta, Happy Enterprises, D.A. & Company, Virendra Bansal, A.D. Trading Company, Pramod Agrawal, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Satyendra Sisodiya, Shri Bangali Trading Company and N.K. Enterprises and loans were given to them. From their account statements, it is clear that the said loan amount was used by those persons. There is no evidence on record to show that the applicant benefited from that amount. There is no evidence on record to show that the applicant sold the grain deposited in the godown against which the applicant issued WHRs receipts which clearly shows that the people, who took loans from the bank against the WHRs receipts, embezzled that amount. But, CBI did not take any action Signature Not Verified SAN against them and wrongly implicated the applicant in the crime. Even out of the Rs. 13.17 Crore loan amount, applicant had already deposited Rs.6 Crore under protest. The applicant has been in custody since 30/3/2022. Charge sheet has been filed and the conclusion of the trial will take time, hence prayed for the 4 release of the applicant on bail. Learned counsel for the respondent/CBI opposed the prayer and submitted that forged warehouse receipts of 11630 Metric Tons were issued by the applicant, while the licensed capacity of Shri Ram Warehouse was 4965 Metric Tons. Applicant has issued WHRs of 6665 Metric Tons beyond the storage capacity of the warehouse with fraudulent intention which clearly shows that the applicant issued forged receipts and during the investigation, no grain was found in the godown which clearly shows that the said grain was embezzled by the applicant and caused loss to the bank to the tune of Rs. 13.17 Crore. So, the applicant should not be released on bail. It is alleged that the applicant issued forged WHRs receipts against which the bank officials sanctioned loan amount, so looking to the allegations, involvement of the applicant in the crime and enormity of fraud, this Court is not inclined to grant bail to the applicant. Hence, this application is dismissed. However, from the case diary and the reply filed by the CBI, in reply of the applicant’s bail application, also reveals that the said 26 loan amounts were received by the 18 persons and some loan amount was also transferred from the borrower’s account to other personal accounts. The loan accounts mentioned at serial no.5 to 9, (in the reply) warehouse receipts were issued during the short period from 10/3/2017 to 31/3/2017 when the warehouse was in possession of Shri Mukesh Kumar Singhal. Thereafter, when the warehouse was taken by M/s Aarya Collateral on lease on 1/4/2017 the warehouse was empty. The commodity stored for those loan accounts were not in the warehouse and when warehouse receipts were issued against the loan Signature Not Verified SAN 5 account mentioned at serial no. 1 to 4, 10 to 16, 18,19 &22 to 26 ( in the reply) the warehouse was not in the possession of applicant Shri Mukesh Kumar Singhal or his brother late Dinesh Kumar. Which prima facie show that the grain against which the warehouse receipts were issued by the applicant was never stored in the warehouse. It is also mentioned in the report that the borrowers stated that they handed over their commodity to Late Shri Dinesh Kumar Singhal, who collected the same from the locations of borrowers and later provided the WHRs to the borrowers. It is unusual that borrowers without physically verifying the godown, and its capacity handed over their grain to applicant Mukesh Kumar Singhal/Dinesh Kumar Singhal. All the borrowers did not repay the loan amount to the bank and they did not lodge any report against Dinesh Kumar Singhal or applicant Mukesh Kumar Singhal regarding embezzlement of their grain. Investigating Officer did not investigate whether the borrowers, who benefitted from the loan amount were also involved in the crime. He also did not investigate from where the borrowers purchased wheat and other grain which was allegedly stored by them in the Shri Ram Warehouse, whether they had grain to store in Shri Ram Warehouse at the relevant point of time. So, the Superintendent of Police, CBI, Bhopal is directed to further investigate the matter either himself or through another officer on the point whether borrowers are also involved in the conspiracy. If he finds any involvement of the borrowers in the crime, take action against them according to law and if he finds any lapse on the part of Investigating Officer, also take action against him and sent the report of the inquiry to the Principal Registrar (J) of High Court for this Court within six months positively from the date of receiving of the copy of this order. Signature Not Verified SAN The office is directed to send the copy of this order to the 6 Superintendent of Police, CBI, Bhopal. Copy of this order be also sent to the Director CBI for necessary action. C.C. as per rules. m/- (RAJEEV KUMAR DUBEY) JUDGE Signature Not Verified Signature Not Verified SAN SAN