Vineet Kumar vs State Of Uttarakhand

Alok Kumar Verma, J

This Bail Application has been filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for grant of regular bail in connection with the Case Crime No. 272 of 2021, registered at police station ITI, District Udham Singh Nagar.

Applicant is in judicial custody under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The First Bail Application (No. 1663 of 2022) was dismissed as withdrawn on 17.05.2023. After dismissal of the First Bail Application, a co-accused, namely, Mahkar Singh Nagar, was granted bail by this Court on 21.06.2023.

The case of the prosecution is that Purl-Plus Infra Venture Limited was a company. Present applicant and two co-accused persons were the Directors of the said Company. The said Company had launched a scheme of five plans, in which, the informant had deposited Rs. 8,100/-, his wife deposited Rs. 10,000/- and others had also deposited money. The said Company closed its office without returning their money. Charge-sheet has been filed after the conclusion of the investigation.

Heard Mr. Siddhartha Bankoti, learned counsel for the applicant and Mr. Rakesh Negi, learned Brief Holder for the State.

Mr. Siddhartha Bankoti, Advocate, contended that the applicant was a Director of the said Company only for a limited period i.e. since 29.04.2013 to 06.06.2014 and as per the allegations leveled in the First Information Report, the alleged transactions were from the year, 2019 and onwards. Applicant had no role in the alleged misappropriation of the amount and so called cheating. He is in custody since 27.04.2022. He is a permanent resident of District Moradabad, therefore, there is no possibility of his absconding. Charge-sheet has already been filed, therefore, there is no chance of tampering with the evidence. Applicant is not a previous convict, and, a co-accused has already been granted bail by this Court.

Mr. Rakesh Negi, learned Brief Holder appearing for the State, has opposed the bail application. However, he has conceded that the co-accused, namely, Mahkar Singh Nagar, has been granted bail by this Court and the applicant is not a previous convict.

Bail is the rule and committal to jail is an exception. Refusal of bail is a restriction on the personal liberty of the individual, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The object of keeping the accused person in detention during the trial is not punishment. The main purpose is manifestly to secure the attendance of the accused.

Having considered the submissions of learned counsel for both the parties and in the facts and circumstances of the case, no reason is found to keep the applicant behind the bars for an indefinite period, therefore, without expressing any opinion as to the merit of the case, this Court is of the view that the applicant deserves bail at this stage.

The Bail Application is allowed.

Let the applicant- Vineet Kumar be released on bail on his executing a personal bond and furnishing two reliable sureties, each in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:-

i) Applicant shall attend the Trial Court regularly and he shall not seek any unnecessary adjournment;

ii) Applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of this case.

It is clarified that if the applicant misuses or violates any of the conditions, imposed upon him, prosecution will be free to move the court for cancellation of bail.