Sukhpal vs State of U.P. — Cheating and Forgery | Allahabad HC (2025)

Sukhpal vs State of U.P. — Cheating and Forgery | Allahabad HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Conditional release of applicant Sukhpal on bail: bail to take effect upon furnishing of a personal bond and two sureties of the same amount to the satisfaction of the concerned court, subject to five enumerated conduct conditions (non-tampering with investigation evidence; no intimidation of investigating personnel, victims or complainants; obedience to court orders with punctual attendance and sincere cooperation; no misuse of bail liberty nor involvement in similar unlawful activity; no inducement, threat or promise to persons acquainted with the case facts or to police officials so as to suppress disclosure), with the trial court empowered to revoke the bail upon breach of any condition.

Issue for consideration

Whether the applicant Sukhpal - detained since 16.02.2025 in connection with FIR No. 93 of Year 2025 under Sections 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2) and 61(2) B.N.S., and pressing parity with a co-accused already admitted to bail by this Bench's order dated 06.05.2025 (bail application No. 8714 of 2025) against the State's objection grounded in the cognizable and serious nature of the alleged offence - should be released on bail.

Court's answer

Conducting a comprehensive review of the available material facts and circumstances within the parameters of the applicant-side counsel's arguments, and having regard to the nature of the offences, the absence of any solid adverse/opposing material, and the fact that the available material lent itself to no likelihood of tampering, the judge recorded the view that there existed proper basis for discharging the applicant on bail.

Ratio / Principle

Accordingly, without any further comment on the merits and demerits of the case, the judge directed the applicant's release on bail in respect of the offences indicated above, upon submission of a personal bond and two sureties of the same amount to the satisfaction of the concerned court, subject to the conditions set out hereunder.

Key takeaways

Attached five conduct conditions to the grant of bail: (i) no tampering with or meddling in the investigation evidences during discussion or examination; (ii) no intimidation of or threat to the investigating staff or the victims/complainants; (iii) obedience to the orders of the court, punctual appearance before it on every appointed date without unnecessary excuse, and sincere cooperation in the examination; (iv) no misuse of the granted liberty of bail and no involvement in any similar unlawful activity; (v) no direct or indirect inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the matter or to any police officer, so as to deter them from disclosing the facts before the court.ratio¶16
Further stipulated that, in the event of contravention of any of the above conditions, the trial (examining) court would stand free to revoke the applicant's bail in accordance with the applicable rules.ratio¶17

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bail GRANTED (conditional) - High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Court No. 86, Dr. Justice Gautam Chowdhary (single judge), Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 7434 of 2025, Neutral Citation 2025:AHC:75728, decided 09.05.2025. Applicant Sukhpal, reported in custody since 16.02.2025, was ordered released on bail in respect of offences arising from FIR No. 93 of Year 2025 taken under Sections 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2) and 61(2) of the B.N.S. (police station and district not legible in the supplied text). After a comprehensive review of the available material facts and circumstances against the defence submissions - weighing the nature of the offences, the absence of any solid adverse material, and the absence of any likelihood of tampering with the available material - the judge found proper basis for discharge on bail and, without further comment on the merits of the case, ordered release upon furnishing a personal bond and two sureties of the same amount to the satisfaction of the concerned court, subject to five conditions: (i) no tampering with investigation evidences during discussion/examination; (ii) no intimidation of or threat to investigating staff or victims/complainants; (iii) obedience to court orders, punctual appearance on appointed dates and sincere cooperation in the examination; (iv) no misuse of the liberty of bail nor involvement in any similar unlawful activity; (v) no direct or indirect inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the case facts or to police officials capable of deterring disclosure of facts; breach of any condition leaving the trial court free to revoke the bail per the rules. Context: defence counsel urged parity with a co-accused (name not legible) whose bail application No. 8714 of 2025 the same Bench had accepted by order dated 06.05.2025; the State counsel, opposing release on the ground that the alleged offence was cognizable and serious in nature, conceded the likeness of the two cases. Caveat: the operative judgment body survives only as heavily garbled romanised Hindi; findings beyond the legible numerals, statutory references and the English header rest on cautious reconstruction and are carried at medium confidence.