NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR REGULAR BAIL - AFTER
CHARGESHEET) NO. 16014 of 2023
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI Sd/-
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1 Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed No to see the judgment ?
2 To be referred to the Reporter or not ? No
3 Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy No
of the judgment ?
4 Whether this case involves a substantial question No
of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution of India or any order made thereunder ?
========================================================== LAKHMANBHAI BHIKHUBHAI KARAVADRA Versus STATE OF GUJARAT ========================================================== Appearance:
MR. NIRUPAM NANAVATY, LD. SR. ADVOCATE WITH MR ROHAN G VAGHELA(12034) for the Applicant(s) No. 1 MR. HARDIK SONI, LD. ADDL. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent(s) No. 1 ========================================================== CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI Date : 08/11/2023 CAV JUDGMENT
1. The present application is filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, for regular bail in Page 1 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023 undefined connection with the FIR being CR No.I-11218015230021 of 2023 registered with the Ranavav Police Station, Porbandar of the offence punishable under Sections 406, 409, 120-B, 465, 467, 471 and 477(a) of the IPC and Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act.
2. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nirupam Nanavaty assisted by learned advocate Mr.R.G. Vaghela appearing for the applicant has submitted that the so called incident has occurred during the period between 01.01.2020 and 04.01.2023 and the first information report came to be lodged on 13.01.2023. The present applicant-accused was arrested on 13.07.2023 and since then he is in judicial custody. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty has further submitted that the present applicant-accused has been named in the FIR. The present applicant-accused is the owner of the Fair Price Shop and doing the business of selling grains to the people belonging to the poor strata of the society. The applicant- accused used to purchase the said grains from the Government Agency. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty has also submitted that in the present case, the investigation has already been completed and charge-sheet has also been filed. It is further submitted that there is no recovery of discovery at the instance of the present applicant-accused. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty has submitted that as per the case of the prosecution, the present applicant-accused, along with the other co-accused as shown in the first information report, have hatched a criminal conspiracy by designing a systematic racket to siphon the Government funds Page 2 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023 undefined and thereby misappropriate the funds of the Government worth Rs.99,77,551/-. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty has also submitted that it is found out from the record that the said contract was given to one Hathiyabhai Dudabhai Khunti, who in turn, entrusted sub-contract to one Rahulbhai Lakhmanbhai Karavadra knowing fully well that he cannot assign the sub-contract to anybody as per the Government norms. It is submitted that the said Hathibhai Dudabhai Khunti has already been released on anticipatory bail. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty has further submitted that the present applicant-accused, being the father of Rahul, has acted as a representative of Rahul who is not directly or indirectly connected with the commission of crime. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty has further submitted that all the offences are exclusively triable by the Court of Magistrate. It is also submitted that now the investigation has been completed and considering the voluminous record of the charge-sheet papers, it seems that the trial would take considerable long period of time to conclude. Learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty has further submitted that the other co-accused persons whose roles are graver than the present applicant- accused, have already been released either on anticipatory bail or on regular bail by the Coordinate Bench of this Court as well as the Sessions Court. Under the circumstances, learned senior advocate Mr. Nanavaty prays that the applicant may be enlarged on bail on any suitable terms and conditions.
3. The learned APP Mr. Hardik Soni appearing on behalf of the respondent-State has opposed grant of regular bail looking Page 3 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023 undefined to the nature and gravity of the offence. Learned APP has submitted that since the present applicant-accused and the other accused persons, in collusion with each other, have hatched a criminal conspiracy with a sole intention to play a fraud with the Government and siphoned away the funds of the Government running in lakhs of rupees, the present applicant- accused may not be enlarged on bail. It is further submitted that a scheme is being run by the Government since long with an intention to provide grains to the people of the poor strata of the society with a reasonable price. The said grains have been stolen from the godown of the Government by the accused persons and sold it in the market and thereby have earned a huge amount of money worth approximately Rs.1.25 Crores. Therefore, considering the role attributed to the present applicant-accused this is a fit case wherein discretionary power of this Court is not required to be exercised in favour of the applicant-accused.
4. I have heard the learned advocates appearing on behalf of the respective parties and perused the papers of the investigation and considered the allegations levelled against the applicant and the role played by the applicant. It is found out from the record that investigation has already been completed and after submission of the charge-sheet, the present application has been filed. The applicant-accused is in judicial custody since 25.01.2023. The name of the applicant- accused is not mentioned in the body of the first information report, however, subsequently during the course of investigation, he has been arraigned as an accused in the present case. It appears that all the offences are exclusively Page 4 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023 undefined triable by the Court of Magistrate. Initially, the complaint has been registered against in all 12 persons. However, subsequently, during the course of investigation, names of other persons have also been revealed, out of which, some persons have been arrested and some persons are still not arrested and have been shown as the absconding accused in the supplementary charge-sheet. It is found out from the record that the Muddamal articles (grains) have been stolen from the Government godown by making a systematic design of fraud by all the accused persons. It is also found out that the accused No.1-Ushaben Surashbhai Bhoye, who was the Deputy General Manager, had been entrusted the work of checking the stock by carrying out inspection of the godown on regular basis and then prepared a report of the stock lying in the godown and submitted the same to the higher authority. Therefore, the accused No.1 seems to be the main conspirator who has already been enlarged on anticipatory bail by the Coordinate Bench of this Court. The other accused persons involved in the present offence have also been enlarged on bail by the Coordinate Bench of this Court as well as by the Sessions Court. Therefore, considering the fact number of co- accused persons have already been enlarged either on anticipatory bail or on regular bail as also the fact that the investigation has already been completed and charge-sheet has also been filed and the fact that all the offences are triable by the Court of Magistrate, I am of the opinion that the bail application of the applicant deserves consideration. It also seems that accused Ashwinbhai Bhoye and Rahulbhai Lakhmanbhai are the main accused person who have Page 5 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023 undefined organized the sinister designed plan with a sole intention to siphon away the huge chunk of amount by selling the goods (grains) lying in the godown illegally and unauthorizedly. Prima facie, their roles have been found out from the police papers and they have actively participated in the commission of the crime. It is also found out from the record that one Hathiyabhai to whom originally the contract was given, who in turn assigned the said contract to Rahulbhai, has already been released on anticipatory bail. Therefore, at this juncture, without entering into the merits or de-merits of the matter, considering the role attributed to the applicant-accused, I am of the opinion that the discretionary powers of this Court can be exercised in favour of the applicant-accused.
5. This Court has also taken into consideration the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sanjay Chandra v. Central Bureau of Investigation, reported in [2012]1 SCC 40.
6. In the facts and circumstances of the case and considering the nature of the allegations made against the applicant in the FIR, without discussing the evidence in detail, prima facie, this Court is of the opinion that this is a fit case to exercise the discretion and enlarge the applicant on regular bail.
7. Hence, the present application is allowed and the applicant is ordered to be released on regular bail in connection with the FIR being CR No.I-11218015230021 of 2023 registered with the Ranavav Police Station, Porbandar, on Page 6 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023 undefined executing a personal bond of Rs.15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand only) with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial Court and subject to the conditions that he shall;
[a] not take undue advantage of liberty or misuse liberty;
[b] not act in a manner injuries to the interest of the prosecution;
[c] surrender passport, if any, to the lower court within
a week;
[d] not leave the State of Gujarat without prior
permission of the Sessions Judge concerned;
[e] mark presence before the concerned Police Station on alternate Monday of every English calendar month for a period of six months between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.;
[f] furnish the present address of residence to the Investigating Officer and also to the Court at the time of execution of the bond and shall not change the residence without prior permission of this Court;
8. The authorities will release the applicant only if he is not required in connection with any other offence for the time being. If breach of any of the above conditions is committed, the Sessions Judge concerned will be free to issue warrant or take appropriate action in the matter.
9. Bail bond to be executed before the lower Court having jurisdiction to try the case. It will be open for the concerned Court to delete, modify and/or relax any of the above Page 7 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/16014/2023 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 08/11/2023 undefined conditions, in accordance with law.
10. At the trial, the trial Court shall not be influenced by the observations of preliminary nature qua the evidence at this stage made by this Court while enlarging the applicant on bail. Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent.
Direct service is permitted.
(DIVYESH A. JOSHI,J) VAHID Page 8 of 8 Downloaded on : Wed Nov 08 20:47:49 IST 2023