The High Court granted statutory bail to the petitioner, Prabha Surana, as she had remained in custody for 225 days without the filing of a charge sheet under the relevant penal and financial laws.
Petitioner released on statutory bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs. 10,000 with two sureties of similar amounts.
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18.07.2023 Sl. No.44 akd [ALLOWED]
C. R. M. (DB) 179 of 2023 [PONZI]
In Re: An application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure filed on 11.01.2023 in connection with Rabindra Sarobar Police Station Case FIR No.77 of 2022 dated 18.05.2022 under Sections 420/406/464/468/469/471/120B of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 3 of the West Bengal Protection of Interest of the Depositors in Financial Establishment Act. (C.G.R. Case No.1425 of 2022)
And
In Re: Prabha Surana
Mr. Kalyan Bandyopadhyay .. Sr. Advocate Mr. Ratnanko Banerjee .. Sr. Advocate Mr. Ayan Bhattacharya Mr. Abhijit Chowdhury Mr. Aditya Ratan Tiwary
… … for the petitioner
Ms. Samira Grewal
… … for the de-facto complainant Vikram Jairath, Harleen Jairath & Arjun Jairath
Mr. Saswata Gopal Mukherjee .. ld. Public Prosecutor Mr. Neguive Ahmed .. ld. Addl. Public Prosecutor Mr. Sudip Ghosh Mr. Ranabir Roy Chowdhury Mr. Rudradipta Nandy .. ld. Addl. Public Prosecutor Mr. Bitasok Banerjee Ms. Trina Mitra Ms. Amita Gaur Mrs. Sonali Das Mr. Mainak Gupta Ms. Ayantika Roy
… … for the State
It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that she is in custody
for about 225 days. Charge sheet has not been filed. Accordingly, she is
entitled to statutory bail.
Upon query, learned Public Prosecutor admits that charge sheet has not been filed as yet.
2
In view of the fact that the petitioner is in custody for more than 90 days and charge sheet has not been filed as yet, we direct the petitioner to be released on statutory bail.
Therefore, the accused/petitioner, namely Prabha Surana , be released on statutory bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.10,000/(Rupees Ten thousand only), with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Additional District & Sessions Judge, 3rd Court, Alipore, South 24-Parganas subject to condition that the said petitioner shall appear before the trial court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever. Before release, petitioner shall submit her passport, if not already done, before the court below.
In the event she fails to appear before the trial court without justifiable cause, the trial court shall be at liberty to cancel her bail automatically without reference to this court.
The application for bail, thus, stands allowed.
(Ajay Kumar Gupta, J.) (Joymalya Bagchi, J.)
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the petitioner is entitled to statutory bail after remaining in custody for over 90 days without a charge sheet being filed.
3 provisions across 3 enactments
Prabha Surana
State of West Bengal
Ajay Kumar Gupta
Joymalya Bagchi
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
