Allowed

Anand Kumar v. Union of India and Another

Allahabad HC24 Nov 2023BAIL/50326/2023

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

This Criminal Misc. Bail Application was filed by Anand Kumar for release in a case involving offences under the CGST Act and U.P. Gangsters Act. After hearing counsel and considering substantive legal precedents regarding bail principles and specific statutory provisions, the High Court held the case fit for bail.

What did the court decide?

Bail allowed subject to personal bond and two reliable sureties, and specific conditions regarding witness tampering and court attendance.

Anand Kumar Vs Union of India and Another — Bail and Remand | Allahabad HC (2023)

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Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC:223673

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Court No. - 83

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Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 50326 of 2023

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Applicant :- Anand Kumar Opposite Party :- Union Of India And Another Counsel for Applicant :- Ravi Agrawal,Bipin Kumar,Jai Prakash,Pooja Srivastava,Sr. Advocate Counsel for Opposite Party :- Parv Agarwal

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Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.

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Counter affidavit filed today by learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2, which is taken on record.

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Heard Sri Anoop Trivedi, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Sri Jai Prakash, for the applicant and Sri Parv Agarwal, learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2 and perused the record of the case.

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The present bail application has been filed on behalf of applicant Anand Kumar under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 1092 of 2023 for offence punishable under Sections 132(1)(b), 132(1)(c), 132(1)(f), 132(1)(k), 132(1)(i) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017, Department DGGI, Meerut, during pendency of the trial, after rejecting the bail application of the applicant by Sessions Judge, Meerut vide order dated 03.11.2023.

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Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is further submitted that the applicant has been arrested without assigning any reason to believe nor any satisfaction to justified his arrest as provided in the Code. It is further submitted that offences as alleged are punishable up-to 5 years imprisonment. It is further submitted that no notice for recovery of G.S.T. has been issued against the applicant and he is illegally arrested. It is further submitted that till date penalty or taxes has not been ascertained as per Act. It is further submitted that the offences are compoundable in nature and triable by Magistrate. The applicant is languishing in jail since 26.07.2023.

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It is further submitted that co-accused Ajay Kumar and Vikram Jain having similar role, has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 07.11.2023 in Criminal Misc. Bail

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Application No. 44043 of 2023 and 44055 of 2023. In support of his submission, he relied upon the judgment of Apex Court in Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Another, (2021) 10 SCC 773.

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It is further submitted that the applicant has no other previous criminal history and if the applicant is released on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail.

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Per contra, learned counsel for Union of India has supported the order passed by the Session court and vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant and submits that the allegations involved are very serious in nature. But he could not point out any material to the contrary. In support of his submission, he relied upon the judgement of Apex Court in Basudev Mittal Vs. Union of India decided by Chhatisgarh High Court in MCRC No. 3919 of 2022 on 15.07.2022, by which Special Leave petition against the order of Chattishgarh High Court was rejected by the Supreme Court on 12.12.2022. He further submits that in case the applicant is released on bail, he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail.

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After considering the facts of the present case it prima facie appears that;

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(a) The applicant has been implicated in the instant case on the basis of four criminal cases, which was lodged on same police station;

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(b) The police has been implicated the appellant in Gangsters Act twice;

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(d) Co-accused, Ajay Kumar and Vikram Jain having similar role, has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 07.11.2023;

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It is settled law that while granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusation, the nature of the evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, the circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, his role and involvement in the offence, his involvement in other cases and reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with.

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Taking into account the totality of facts and keeping in mind,

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the ratio of the Apex Court's judgment in the case of State of Rajasthan v. Balchand @ Baliay (1977) 4 SCC 308, Gudikanti Narasimhulu And Ors., v. Public Prosecutor, High Court Of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1978 SC 429, Ram Govind Upadhyay v. Sudarshan Singh & Ors., (2002) 3 SCC 598, Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee & Anr., (2010) 14 SCC 496 and Mahipal v. Rajesh Kumar & Anr., (2020) 2 SCC 118 , the larger interest of the public/State and other circumstances, and provision of Section 19(1) of the U.P. Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, but without expressing any opinion on the merits, I am of the view that it is a fit case for grant of bail. Hence, the present bail application is allowed .

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Let applicant, Anand Kumar be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on his furnishing a personal bond and two reliable sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions-

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(i) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any 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 or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.

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(ii) The applicant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witnesses.

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(iii) 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 Section 313 of Cr.P.C.

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(iv) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in the trial court.

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(v) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel.

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It is clarified that anything said in this order is limited to the purpose of determination of this bail application and will in no way be construed as an expression on the merits of the case. The trial court shall be absolutely free to arrive at its independent conclusions on the basis of evidence led unaffected by anything said in this order.

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In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.

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The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad, self attested by the applicant along-with a self attested identity proof of the said person (preferably Aadhar Card) mentioning the mobile number to which the said Aadhar Card is linked.

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The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.

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Order Date :- 24.11.2023 Ishan

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Digitally signed by :- ISHAN JAISWAL High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

Anand Kumar v. Union of India and Another

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Anand Kumar v. Union of India and Another

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

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