The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK BLAPL No.2798 of 2024 Mahesh Pan @ Matu @ Motu …. Petitioner Mr. Ramakanta Pradhan, Advocate State of Odisha -versus- …. Mr. A.K. Pati, ASC Opp. Party CORAM: JUSTICE M.S.SAHOO Order No.
Decision
ORDER 06.05.2024 Hybrid Mode 02. 1. Under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. the BLAPL has been filed by the petitioner in jail custody, in connection with Champua P.S. Case No.70 of 2023 corresponding to G.R. Case No.165 of 2023 pending in the court of learned SDJM, Champua for alleged commission of offence under Section 395 of IPC. 2. As the earlier BLAPL No.7436 of 2023 was disposed of by this Bench by order dated 31.10.2023, in terms of Standing Order No.2 of 2023 dated 21.05.2023, the present petition has been placed before this Court for consideration of the prayer of the petitioner, who is a co-accused along with Mohammad Mahfuz Alam @ Lambu who was the petitioner in BLAPL No.7436 of 2023. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner refers to the affidavit filed on behalf of the petitioner dated 23.04.2024 Page 1 of 6 through his father which discloses the past allegations of criminal activity against the petitioner and also draws attention to the paragraph-3 which states the following: “3. That I am ready to arrange and furnish two local surety of Champua jurisdiction and/or ready to furnish one blood relation as surety of my family including myself for my son Mahesh Pan if he will be granted bail by this Hon'ble Court.” 4. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is in custody since 03.06.2023 and in the meanwhile, preliminary prosecution report has been submitted on 26.09.2023. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that though the petitioner originally belongs to the State of Jharkhand, he shall subject himself to the terms and conditions that would be imposed by the learned court in seisin of the matter to ensure he attending the trial. It is submitted that the co-accused has been granted bail by order dated 31.10.2023 as referred above, considering the age of the petitioner being 23 years he may be shown indulgence to come back to the community to lead a normal social life that would help him to mend his ways. 5. Learned Additional Standing Counsel appearing for the State referring to the materials contained in the case diary furnished by the investigating agency and the past allegations of criminal activity against the petitioner, opposes the prayer for bail. However, it is agreed at the Bar that in the meanwhile, the Preliminary Prosecution Report has been submitted keeping the investigation open and the affidavit Page 2 of 5 filed on behalf of the petitioner through his father dated 23.04.2024 giving the past allegations against the petitioner is in sync with the report furnished by the police. 6. Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Additional Standing Counsel for the State and considering the materials on record, this Court is inclined to grant bail to the petitioner subject to such stringent terms and conditions that would be imposed by the learned court in seisin of the matter, which shall also include the following conditions: two sureties for an amount to the satisfaction of the learned court in seisin of the matter, out of the two one shall be a family member of the petitioner and the other shall be a local person; the court in seisin of the matter shall ensure and verify the credential of the sureties, the court shall direct and record its satisfaction; the petitioner shall not in any manner make any inducement, threat or promise to the prosecution witnesses so as to dissuade them from disclosing truth before the court and shall not tamper with the evidence; the petitioner shall not indulge himself in similar activity; the petitioner shall surrender his passport if any, before the learned court in seisin of the matter and will not leave India without prior permission of the Court and in the event the petitioner has not been Page 3 of 5 issued with any passport, he would submit an affidavit stating the said fact; the petitioner shall appear before the concerned authority as would be so required for the purpose; he shall appear before the police having jurisdiction of his area of residence as would be directed by the learned court in seisin of the matter in the manner to be decided by the learned court in seisin; the petitioner shall fully cooperate with the ongoing further investigation and make himself available as and when required for such purpose; the petitioner shall be available to be contacted over mobile phone and such phone should remain active and normally not be changed, and in case of any change of mobile number of the petitioner for any bona fide reason, the same shall be communicated to the Investigating Agency; the petitioner shall co-operate with the trial and shall not seek unnecessary adjournments on frivolous grounds to protract the trial; the petitioner shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail; In case of his involvement in any other criminal activities or breach of any condition imposed for grant of bail, the investigating agency/informant/victim shall file petition for cancellation of bail; 7. The certified copy of the affidavit dated 23.04.2024 filed by the father of the petitioner shall be produced Page 4 of 5 before the learned court in seisin of the matter for consideration of conditions to be imposed for grant of bail. 8. The BLAPL is disposed of accordingly. It is clarified that any observations made in this judgment shall not be construed to be the opinion of this Court regarding the merits of the contentions that would be raised in the pending trial before the learned court in seisin by either of the parties to the present petition. Urgent certified copy of this order be granted as per rules. ……………………… (M.S.Sahoo) Judge jyostna Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: JYOSTNARANI MAJHEE Reason: Authentication Location: OHC Date: 09-May-2024 16:38:36 Page 5 of 5