The High Court of Punjab and Haryana granted pre-arrest bail to Dr. Gaurav Bhardwaj, alleging embezzlement of ₹3.52 lakhs during his tenure as drawing and disbursing officer, subject to condition to join investigation.
Petitioner granted pre-arrest bail on conditions to join investigation and not tamper with evidence.
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CRM-M-18728-2012 (O&M)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
CRM-M-18728-2012 (O&M). Date of decision: December 10, 2012.
Dr.Gaurav Bhardwaj
..... Petitioner
Versus
State of Haryana
.... Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M.S. BEDI
PRESENT Mr.Karan Vir Nanda, Advocate, for the petitioner. Ms.Shalini Attri, DAG., Haryana.
M.M.S. BEDI, J. (ORAL)
Petitioner during his tenure at Civil Hospital, Rajound, exercising the powers of drawing and disbursing officer had allegedly misused his powers.
The case of the Vigilance Bureau, Haryana, against the petitioner is that he had withdrawn a sum of 3,92,000/- for construction of delivery huts sanctioned under SKS Scheme but had spent only a sum of 40,000/- and embezzled ` 3,52,000/- in collusion with other officials. There are vague allegations against the petitioner and co-accused Dr. Shiv Kumar Anand of having misused the amount by showing fake bills of expenditure but the fact remains that the incident pertains to an event which is 6 years old. The petitioner having left the post on 11.10.2005, the matter having not
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CRM-M-18728-2012 (O&M)
been raised for a period of 5-6 years, it will be debatable whether launching of prosecution would defeat the right of liberty of the petitioner.
State counsel has vehemently contended that the petitioner though has joined investigation but has produced fake documents. Since the petitioner has already been booked for offence under Sections 467, 468 & 471IPC, without commenting upon the validity of the documents produced by the petitioner, the petitioner can be granted the concession of pre-arrest bail.
The petition is allowed. It is ordered that in case of arrest of the petitioner, he will be released on bail to the satisfaction of the arresting officer subject to the following conditions: -
(i) That the petitioner will join the investigation as and when required by the police;
(ii) That the petitioner will not tamper with the evidence or hamper investigation, in any manner; and
(iii) That the petitioner will cooperate in investigation.
It is made clear that this order will not prejudice the
rights of the Investigating Agency to recover the amount in accordance with law in case it is established to have been misappropriated or misused by the petitioner during his tenure of service
December 10, 2012. rka
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Dr. Gaurav Bhardwaj
State of Haryana
M.M.S. Bedi
As recorded by the court registry
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