Bakul Nath vs Bimal Nath @ Bimalendu Nath

Biswajit Palit, J

This application under Section 483 of BNSS, 2023 is filed by the accused-person namely, Bimal Nath alias Bimalendu Nath in connection with Panisagar PS Case No.017 of 2025 under Section 305/3(5) of BNS, 2023 for releasing him on bail.

Heard Learned Counsel, Mr. Suman Bhattacharjee appearing on behalf of the accused-in-custody and also heard Learned Addl. P.P., Mr. R. Saha who as per order of the Court also has produced the CD before the Court today.

In course of hearing, Learned Counsel, Mr. S. Bhattacharjee drawn the attention of the Court that the accused-in-custody is the driver of the seized vehicle and he used to collect different materials/articles for construction, from the RD Store and also used to carry those articles to different work sites. In the alleged case, the seized bags of cement were kept in the house of the Shibu Moni Nath as during transshipment his vehicle became out of order and in the meantime those articles were seized by the police at the instance of the informant. He further submitted that, the accused-in-custody is an illiterate person. He could not inform the respective authority regarding this matter and he surrendered before the Court on 23.04.2025 and since then he is lodging in custody, so considering the period of detention in custody and the nature of allegation Learned Counsel urged that the accused may be released on bail in any condition.

On the other hand, Learned Addl. P.P. taking part in the hearing strongly opposed the bail application and submitted that there is direct involvement showing implication of the accused with the alleged crime and from the statement of witnesses so far collected by I.O. it appears that, the accused-in-custody procured those bags of cement for illegal gain and if at this stage he is released on bail, the investigation of the case would be hampered and urged for rejection of the bail application.

Considered.

In this case, the FIR was laid by the BDO, Panisagar RD Block to OC, Panisagar P.S. on 05.03.2025 alleging inter alia that based on information the informant along with DCM, Panisagar Sub-Division and Police Personnel conducted raid in the house of Shibu Moni Nath of Panisagar W/No.4 at 10.15 pm on 03.03.2025 and during such operation 54 nos. of cement bags belonging to RD Department were found in the garage of Mr. Shibu Moni Nath and on being asked the owner of the house informed that the cements were kept by Bimal Nath by a Bolero Pick Up Truck which was sometimes used for carrying RD materials to the work sites by respective implementing officer. Said Bimal Nath came to the house of Shibu Moni Nath for further examination and on his appearance he confessed that he had kept those cement bags because his vehicle broken down but he did not inform any Govt. officials in this regard.

After that, the bags of cement were seized by police by preparing seizure list. On the basis of the FIR, the Panisagar P.S. Case No.17 of 2025 under Section 305/3(5) of BNS, 2023 was registered.

By this time, Shibu Moni Nath approached before this Court by filing anticipatory bail application as A.B. No.31 of 2025 and by order dated 28.04.2025 pre-arrest bail was granted to the said accused.

I have also perused the CD produced by Learned Addl. P.P. and also have gone through the statement of witnesses recorded by I.O. up to this stage of investigation. It is the admitted position that those bags of cements were seized by the police in presence of BDO from the house of Shibu Moni Nath. On the alleged day and at the time of seizure the present accused-in-custody admitted that although he carried those bags of cement but as his vehicle broken down so he was under compulsion to store these bags in the house of said Shibu Moni Nath.

From the statement of witnesses further it appears that, those bags of cement belongs to RD Department which was released probably on different times for the purpose of construction in different work sites. One of the witness stated that those bags of cement were not released from the godown but other witnesses stated that on different intervals those bags were procured by accused-in-custody for the purpose of illegal gain. However, the investigation of the case is still in progress and by this time the bags of cement were seized by I.O. and was handed over to the RD Department as it is a perishable product. The accused is in custody for a considerable period. His prima facie involvement cannot be ruled out but it is true that although the bags were kept by him in the residence of Shibu Moni Nath but he did not intimate anything to the respective authority/department which created a suspicion regarding his involvement with the alleged offence.

By this time, the I.O. has given opportunity to conduct the case properly. The I.O. mentioned that in course of interrogation the accused-in-custody narrated everything but surprisingly that interrogation report could not be traced in the CD even in the record of Court also. The conduct of the I.O. is also not satisfactory. It is to be kept in mind that whenever CD is produced before any Court it should be placed under proper seal cover with proper pagination at least one day before date for perusal either by the prosecutor or by the Court. The conduct is not at all acceptable. I.O. should be cautious in dealing with such matters in near future.

However, considering the period of the detention of the accused-in-custody, I am inclined to release him on bail of his furnishing bail bond of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty thousand) with one surety of like amount to the satisfaction of CJM, North Tripura, Dharmanagar on condition that the accused shall appear before I.O. once in a week till completion of investigation and he shall not make any attempt to temper evidence on record of the prosecution nor he shall leave the jurisdiction of the court without prior permission of the Learned Court below ID to remain in JC as before.

Send down the LCR along with a copy of this order. Also return back the CD to I.O. through Learned Addl. P.P. along with a copy of this order. A copy of this order be supplied to Learned Counsel for the applicant.

The bail application stands disposed of.