Ankit Verma Vs State of U.P. — Cheating and Forgery | Allahabad HC (2022)

Ankit Verma Vs State of U.P. — Cheating and Forgery | Allahabad HC (2022)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Bail granted to applicant Ankit Verma in Case Crime No. 38 of 2022 on furnishing a personal bond and two reliable sureties each of the like amount, subject to conditions (no tampering with evidence, no influencing witnesses, appearance before the trial court, no inducement/threat/promise); breach entitles the prosecution to seek cancellation of bail.

Issue for consideration

Whether the applicant, Ankit Verma, named in Case Crime No. 38 of 2022 under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471, 506 IPC, Police Station Civil Lines, District Muzaffarnagar, should be enlarged on bail.

Court's answer

On parity with co-accused Rohit and Lukki Pandey @ Rishi Pandey already granted bail, and considering the nature of accusation, severity of punishment in case of conviction, nature of supporting evidence, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge, reformative theory of punishment, the larger mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the dictum of the Apex Court in Dataram Singh v. State of U.P., (2018) 2 SCC 22, the Court found it to be a case of bail.

Ratio / Principle

The applicant Ankit Verma was directed to be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime on furnishing a personal bond and two reliable sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned.

Key takeaways

Release was made subject to conditions: the applicant shall not tamper with the evidence during trial, shall not influence any witness, shall appear before the trial court on dates fixed unless exempted, and shall not directly or indirectly make inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts so as to dissuade disclosure; on breach of any condition, the prosecution is at liberty to move this Court for cancellation of bail.ratio¶15

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bail granted — Parity with co-accused — Offences under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471, 506 IPC (Case Crime No. 38 of 2022, P.S. Civil Lines, District Muzaffarnagar). Co-accused Rohit and Lukki Pandey @ Rishi Pandey had already been enlarged on bail by this Court by orders dated 01.08.2022 and 06.09.2022 in Criminal Misc. Bail Applications No. 28916 of 2022 and No. 30151 of 2022; the applicant, in jail since 23.05.2022 and alleged to have played an identical role, claimed parity. The Court (Gajendra Kumar, J.), invoking the dictum in Dataram Singh v. State of U.P., (2018) 2 SCC 22, and considering the nature of accusation, severity of punishment, nature of supporting evidence, prima facie satisfaction in support of the charge, reformative theory of punishment and the larger mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution, allowed bail without expressing any opinion on the merits, on a personal bond and two reliable sureties each of the like amount, subject to conditions (no tampering with evidence, no influencing witnesses, appearance before the trial court, no inducement, threat or promise); on breach, the prosecution may seek cancellation of bail.

Court No. - 92

Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 29857 of 2022

Applicant :- Ankit Verma Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Ankur Singh Kushwaha Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.

Hon'ble Gajendra Kumar,J.

Heard Sri Ankur Singh Kushwah, learned counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.

The present bail application has been filed by the applicant with the prayer to enlarge him on bail in Case Crime No.38 of 2022, under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471, 506 IPC, Police Station-Civil Lines, District-Muzaffarnagar.

It is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that similarly placed co-accused persons, namely, Rohit and Lukki Pandey @ Rishi Pandey have already been enlarged on bail by this Court by orders dated 01.08.2022 and 06.09.2022 respectively passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Applications No.28916 of 2022 and 30151 of 2022 respectively. He has further submitted that since the role of the applicant is identical to that of co-accused persons, namely, Rohit and Lukki Pandey @ Rishi Pandey, who have already been enlarged on bail, he is also entitled to be enlarged on bail on the ground of parity. It is further submitted that the applicant is languishing in jail since 23.05.2022, and in case of being released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in trial.

The learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant, but could not dispute the aforesaid facts.

Having heard the submissions of learned counsel of both sides, keeping in view the fact that other co-accused has already been granted bail, nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge, reformative theory of punishment, and larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the dictum of Apex Court in the case of Dataram Singh v. State of U.P. and another, reported in (2018) 2 SCC 22 and without expressing any opinion on the merit of the case, I find it to be a case of bail.

Let the applicant - Ankit Verma be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime on his furnishing a 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 will not tamper with the evidence during the trial.

(ii) The applicant will not influence any witness.

(iii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted.

(iv) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly make inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.

In case of breach of any of the above condition, the prosecution shall be at liberty to move an application bail before this Court seeking cancellation of bail.

Order Date :- 12.9.2022

SK Goswami

Digitally signed by SHIVAKANT GOSWAMI Date: 2022.09.12 17:43:32 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad