High Court
Case Details
1 Court No. - 70 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 4924 of 2022 Applicant :- Prashand Bhardwaj Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Ronak Chaturvedi Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Abhishek Mishra,Rahul Mishra HON'BLE PIYUSH AGRAWAL,J. 1. 2. 3.
Legal Reasoning
Heard Shri Ashok Mehta, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Shri Ronak Chaturvedi, learned counsel for the applicant, learned AGA for the State - respondents and Shri Rahul Mishra, learned counsel for the informant. The present bail application has been filed by the applicant seeking bail in Case No. 272/2019, under sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120-B IPC, Police Station- Sadar Bazar, District – Meerut. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present crime. He further submits that the allegations levelled against the applicant in the FIR are false, frivolous and concocted; the FIR was lodged with respect to the occurrence from 19.07.2011 to 20.05.2019, but the same was lodged on 25.06.2019; the applicant was appointed as Director by Rajesh Diwan in order to avail loan as credibility of Rajesh Diwan was not good as he defaulted in repayment of loan amount; the transactions as mentioned in the FIR were carried out with the consent of the informant and on the direction of her father, Shri Rajesh Diwan, by using valid negotiable instruments; no forged document was either prepared by the applicant or used by him in order to fraudulently or dishonestly cheat the informant or to carry out any transaction without her consent; during investigation the IO requested the first informant to provide specimen signature for sending them for FSL, Ghaziabad for verification, but in spite of several reminders, the informant did not provide any specimen signatures; there is no 2 report of handwriting expert which can establish that the applicant had forged the signatures of the informant and carried out the transactions; the applicant has been made a scapegoat by Rajesh Diwan in order to save his own skin from financial liabilities accruing to him and his Companies; no financial loss has been caused to the informant or Shri Rajesh Diwan at the instance of the applicant; there is no accusation against any bank employee, which further substantiates the submission that all the transactions were carried out on the directions of Rajesh Diwan, else, the same would not have been cleared from the Bank; the applicant was not the introducer of the bank account of the informant, the introducers are his family members. It is also submitted that there is no apprehension that after being released on bail, the applicant may flee from the course of law or may, otherwise, misuse the liberty of bail and the applicant is in jail since 04.01.2022 and the possibility of conclusion of trial in near future is very bleak. Learned counsel for the respondents have opposed the prayer for grant of bail. In the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the informant/complainant, it has been stated that systemic fraud has been done by the applicant whereby the applicant withdrew huge sum in different periods from the account of the informant without consent and signature; the applicant under conspiracy embezzle the funds not only from the account of the informant, but also from the account of the Companies; Shri Rajesh Diwan had blind faith over the applicant and given the applicant responsibility to manage all the accounts of the Companies as well as family members and taking advantage of the same, the applicant fraudulently misappropriated the amount by forging signatures over the cheques, withdrawal receipt and also took loan by forging signature of the informant; there is no force in the bail application and the same is liable to be rejected. 4. 5. 3 6. 7. 8. 9. The State has also filed counter affidavit reiterating the submission made by the informant in the counter affidavit. In reply to the said counter affidavits, two rejoinder affidavits have also been filed on behalf of the applicant denying the averments made above and reiterating the submissions made on behalf of the applicant, as aforesaid. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, perusing the record and also considering the nature of allegations, arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the parties and without expressing any opinion on the merit of the case, I find it to be a fit case for granting bail. Let applicant, namely, Prashant Bhardwaj, be released on bail in the aforesaid Case Crime Number on furnishing personal bond and two reliable sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions:- (i) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that the applicant shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law. (ii) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through counsel. In case of absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against the applicant under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code. (iii) In case the applicant misuse the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure the applicant's presence, proclamation under Section 82 Cr.P.C. is issued and the applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against the applicant, in accordance with law, under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code. (iv) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under 4 Section 313 Cr.P.C. If, in the opinion of the trial court, absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against the applicant in accordance with law. 10. Any violation of above conditions will be treated misuse of bail and learned Court below will be at liberty to pass appropriate order in the matter regarding cancellation of bail. Order Date :- 11/11/2022 Amit Mishra Digitally signed by AMIT KUMAR MISHRA Date: 2022.11.11 14:02:04 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad