Kuldeep Singh vs State of Punjab

Mehinder Singh Sullar, J.—Petitioner-Kuldeep Singh son of Pritam Singh, has preferred the instant petition for the grant of anticipatory bail in a case registered against him along with his other co-accused, vide FIR No. 101 dated 10.12.2011, on accusation of having committed the offences punishable under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 IPC, by the police of Police Station City Rampura, District Bathinda, invoking the provisions of Section 438 Cr.P.C. Notice of the petition was issued to the State.

After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, going through the record with their valuable assistance and after considering the entire matter deeply, to my mind, the present petition for anticipatory bail deserves to be accepted in this context.

During the course of preliminary hearing, a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court (M.M.S. Bedi, J.), has passed the following order on May 20, 2013: -

Petitioner seeks the concession of pre-arrest bail in a case registered at the instance of Chief Manager of State Bank of India, Rampura Phool, alleging that Manish, Accountant of M/s. Parkash Brothers and Company, fraudulently withdrew the money from the bank by forging signatures of his employer.

Counsel for the petitioner submits that so far as petitioner is concerned, he is working as Assistant Manager with State Bank of India. He had cleared three cheques out of 20 disputed cheques claiming that the petitioner acted bonafide in the routine course of his business. Co-accused of the petitioner have already been granted the concession of pre-arrest bail.

Notice of motion for August 13, 2013.

Meanwhile, an interim direction is issued that the petitioner will join investigation on June 1, 2013 between 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. or any other date as required by the investigating officer and in case of his doing so, he will be released on interim bail to the satisfaction of the arresting officer.

At the very outset, on instructions from ASI Gurjant Singh, learned State Counsel has acknowledged the factual matrix and submitted that the petitioner has already joined the investigation. He is no longer required for further interrogation, at this stage. There is no history of his previous involvement in any other criminal case. All the offences alleged against the accused are triable by the Court of Magistrate. Even, since the prosecution has not yet submitted the final police report (challan) against the accused, so, the final conclusion of trial will naturally take a long time.

It is not a matter of dispute that Davinder Singh and Baldev Singh (co-accused of the petitioner), have already been granted the concession of anticipatory bail, by this Court, by way of order dated 14.02.2013, in Crl. Misc. No. M-29496 of 2012 (Annexure P-2). In that eventuality, I see no reason not to extend the same benefit of anticipatory bail to the present petitioner, under the similar set of circumstances. In the light of aforesaid reasons and taking into consideration the totality of facts and circumstances, emanating from the record, as discussed here-in-above, the instant petition for anticipatory bail is accepted. The interim bail already granted to the petitioner by this Court, by virtue of order dated May 20, 2013, is hereby made absolute, subject to the compliance of the conditions, as contemplated u/s 438(2) Cr.P.C.

Needless to mention that, in case, the petitioner does not cooperate or join the investigation, the prosecution would be at liberty to move a petition for cancellation of his bail, in this respect.