Sitaram Banafar (Jatav) vs State Of Madhya Pradesh

This is first application u/S.438 Cr.P.C. filed by the petitioner for grant of anticipatory bail.

Petitioner apprehends his arrest in connection with offence punishable u/Ss.420, 467 of IPC registered as Crime No.151/2019, by Police Station Sirol Gwalior, District Gwalior (M.P.).

Learned Public Prosecutor for the State opposed the application and prayed for its rejection by contending that on the basis of the allegations and the material available on record, no case for grant of anticipatory bail is made out.

Petitioner apprehends his arrest in respect of offence of cheating and forgery in respect of sale transaction where petitioner is alleged to have sold a piece of land to the complainant by accepting substantial sale consideration but the complainant later found that the possession of piece of land given pursuant to the sale transaction is a part of government land.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that it is more a case of wrongful identification of land and not sale of land not belonging to the petitioner. It is submitted that the land in question sold to the complainant has been bought by the petitioner earlier in 2011. Factum of cheating and forgery is yet to be established.

Be that as it may, since the possibility of dispute involving civil overtones cannot be ruled out though on the prima facie assessment and also there is absence of criminal antecedents, this court is inclined to extend benefit of anticipatory bail to the petitioner.

Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on merits of the case, I deem fit appropriate to allow this application u/S. 438 of Cr.P.C. in the following terms.

It is hereby directed that in the event of arrest, the petitioner-Sitaram Banafar (Jatav) shall be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rs. One Lakh only) with two solvent sureties each of Rs.50,000/- to the satisfaction of the Arresting Authority.

This order will remain operative subject to compliance of the following conditions by the petitioner :-

The petitioner will comply with all the terms and conditions of the bond executed by him;

The petitioner will cooperate in the investigation/trial, as the case may be;

The petitioner will not indulge himself in extending inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Court or to the Police Officer, as the case may be;

The petitioner shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which he is accused;

The petitioner will not seek unnecessary adjournments during the trial;

The petitioner will not leave India without previous permission of the trial Court/Investigating Officer, as the case may be;

The petitioner shall mark his presence before the concerned Police Station firstly on 06.12.2019 and thereafter once every week till conclusion of the investigation.

The petitioner shall plant 25 saplings of indigenous fruit bearing or shady trees on the side of the road/street of the place of residence of petitioner or at any other place in the district which is earmarked by the Collector/Revenue Authority for planting trees and shall take care of the trees for the next one year by watering the plants and by installing tree guards at his own expenses. In case the petitioner is unable to afford incurring of such expenses, then he would obtain saplings/tree guard from the forest authorities (the concerned Forest Range Officer of the area) free of cost or at concessional/nominal rates available under any beneficial scheme of the Government. The petitioners shall file an affidavit disclosing compliance of this condition within 30 days in the Registry, failing which this court may consider cancellation of bail.

On complying with condition No.8 aforesaid, petitioner is directed to inform the location of plantation made to the Forest Range Officer of the area concerned who will pass on this information to the DFO concerned.

For effective implementation of this order in the interest of betterment of ecology of the area concerned, the District Magistrate of district within which the petitioner resides is directed to assist the petitioner/accused to comply with condition No.8 by extending all possible financial and material assistance to the petitioners admissible under any of the beneficial scheme for afforestation of the State.

The DFO of the concerned District is directed to file verification report before the trial Court concerned after carrying out inspection personally or through any other officer of the Forest Dept duly authorised in that behalf disclosing as to whether petitioner has complied with condition No.8 or not, and if yes to what extent?

The learned trial Judge on receiving report of noncompliance of condition No.8 shall forthwith communicate the same to the Registry of this Court.

The Registry on receiving any such report from the trial Court disclosing default shall put up the matter before appropriate Bench in shape of PUD.

A copy of this order be sent to the trial Court concerned for compliance.

Let a typed copy of this order be also supplied to the counsel for the State for compliance of the aforesaid directives.

A copy of this order be furnished by the Registry of this Court to the concerned District Magistrate and the DFO having territorial jurisdiction over the place of residence of the petitioner for execution of the order in the interest of the ecology.

For the time being this case stands disposed of.

C.c. as per rules.