Gujarat High Court
Vaibhavbhai Shantibhai Jasoliya vs State Of Gujarat on 7 August, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR ANTICIPATORY BAIL) NO. 15989
of 2025
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VAIBHAVBHAI SHANTIBHAI JASOLIYA
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
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Appearance:
MR DHRUV TOLIYA(9249) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR HARDIK SONI APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI
Date : 07/08/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. By way of the present application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short "BNSS"), the applicant has prayed for anticipatory bail in the event of arrest in connection with the FIR being I-C.R. No. 11210015250064 of 2025 registered with DCB Police Station, Surat City, for the alleged offences as mentioned in the FIR.
2. Learned advocate Mr. Dhruv Toliya appears for the applicant submits that as per the case of the prosecution, the so-called incident occurred during the period between 04.12.2023 to 09.04.2025 and FIR is registered on 09.04.2025 against total 17 persons wherein name of the present applicant is mentioned at serial no.7. The sum and substance of the charge of accusations levelled against the present application is that the applicant Page 1 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined herein had procured a gun licence of all India permit from Nagaland despite the fact that the applicant herein is a permanent resident of the State of Gujarat, and on the strength of the said licence the applicant herein has purchased a weapon. Learned advocate Mr. Toliya submits that it is a specific case of the prosecution that a scam is busted in the particular area and on the basis of which intensive inquiry initiated by the police machinery and as a part of inquiry they had gone to the shop namely Gajanand Gun House wherein they had verified the record, and during the course of scrutinizing the papers, it has come on surface that number of persons have obtained permission for gun licence from the different States, and on the basis of said gun licence, they had purchased weapon from him, and therefore, a Janva Jog entry was registered, and pursuance to which an inquiry was carried out, and during the course of inquiry, applicant's statement was recorded. The said statement of the applicant is entirely reiterated in the body of the FIR. FIR is very longish, but statements of all the accused recorded during the course of the investigation have already been incorporated in the body of the FIR. Be that as it may, but the charge of accusations levelled against the present applicant is to be seen, in that event, it could be found out that the applicant had come in contact with a broker and with a sole intent to get gun licence through easier channel instead of following rigorous proceedings, he has paid certain amount to the said broker, and as a part of Page 2 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined transaction, applicant herein had paid Rs.5 lakhs to the mediator and also supplied his original records through broker, and the broker might have forwarded those original records through WhatsApp messages and/or through courier. The applicant herein had never come in contact with the main person who had procured the licence. The applicant herein had never gone to Nagaland for the purpose of any proceedings. In short, applicant herein had supplied genuine documents to the broker, and in turn, the person who had carried out the work had produced those documents, and if any false and fabricated documents have been placed before the competent court of Government authority, the said act had been carried out by the co-accused, and the present applicant is not, at all, aware about the factum of the said aspect, and therefore, at this juncture, it can safely be said that involvement of the applicant so far as invoking the provision of forgeries are concerned, are not at all applicable to the applicant. He further submits that, in fact, during the course of transaction, applicant herein has also obtained certificate from the police authority wherein he has stated in a very categorical terms that he wants No Objection Certificate to obtain a gun licence, and after verifying all those documents, the said NOC is obtained from the police officer. Copy of said application is also placed on record, and it is not a case of prosecution that the said document is false and fabricated.
3. Learned advocate Mr. Toliya further submits that for the Page 3 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined purpose of entertaining the bail application, conduct of the accused is required to be seen. As soon as the applicant has received the licence, he has purchased the weapon from the Government approved gun shop, and he has also disclosed correct facts before the authority and said facts can be verified from the register of the said shop. Not only that he himself has purchased the said weapon through his own credit card. If intention of the applicant is malafide, in that event, he would not have purchased the weapon through his own credit card and also disclosed correct particulars about his residential address as well as other documents. He further submits that the amount which was forwarded to the main accused person for the purpose of procurement of licence through angadiya wherein he has disclosed his own name. The statement of the applicant has already been recorded by the police officer, inquiry of Janva Jog entries and all kind of cooperation are extended and almost all documents upon which reliance has been placed by the prosecuting agency have already been collected, and as such there is no custodian interrogation of the applicant is needed. The applicant is seriously apprehending his arrest at hands of the investigating officer as similarly situated persons have already been apprehended, and immediately within no time, they were enlarged on regular bail. Considering the above-stated factual aspects, the applicant's bail application is required to be allowed by imposing suitable terms and conditions. He has further submitted that as commission Page 4 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined of crime so far as offences pertaining to forgery are concerned are at all not attributed to the applicant. So far as provisions of the Arms Act invoked against the applicant, it can safely be said that if Hon'ble court would go through the penal provision, in that event, maximum punishment could be imposed is upto 5 years. He has put reliance upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Bhadresh Bipinbhai Sheth vs. State of Gujarat and Another reported in (2016) 1 Supreme Court Cases 152 and submitted that it is a settled proposition of law and time again Hon'ble Apex court has held that "it is imperative for the courts to carefully and with meticulous precision evaluate the facts of the case. The discretion to grant bail must be exercised on the basis of the available material and facts of the particular case. In cases where the court is of the considered view that the accused has joined the investigation and he is fully cooperating with the investigating agency and is not likely to abscond, in that event, custodial interrogation should be avoided." Considering the same, this is a fit case wherein Hon'ble court may have to exercise discretionary power of anticipatory bail in favour of the applicant.
4. Learned APP Mr. Hardik Soni who appears on behalf of the respondent - State has objected the present application with a vehemence and acrimoniously submitted involvement of the applicant in commission of crime is clearly found out. The learned advocate for the applicant has tried to create impression that applicant is Page 5 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined very innocent and he just had supplied only his original documents to procure the licence from the another State except that no other role he has played. Learned APP Mr. Soni has submitted that, in fact, it is a specific case of the prosecution that applicant herein has supplied all those documents to the main accused through middleman and also paid huge volume of Rs. 5 lakhs, not only that then after securing the gun licence in his name he has also purchased gun in his name by paying huge amount, and those facts are also found out from the documents collected by the investigating officer. He has shown the gun licence issued in the name of the applicant to this Hon'ble court and forcefully submitted that photograph of the present applicant is pasted upon the said licence, and he has made cross signature upon the photograph. Not only that the residential address of the present applicant is mentioned at Nagaland as he being a permanent resident of the Nagaland he has availed the benefit of licence from that State, and those material crystalized the position that with a sole intent to procure gun licence from Nagaland certain documents have been placed on record to show that applicant is residing within the territory of State of Nagaland. During the course of investigation, particular facts have come on record that documents have been supplied to the authority concerned with a effect that applicant herein is residing in one house during the interregnum period, and documents to that effect have been prepared and supplied to the authority concerned. On the strength of Page 6 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined said material, investigation has been carried out and statements of those persons have been recorded, which clearly justify the case of the prosecution that the applicant had never resided in the said area despite the said fact papers have been placed before the authority stating that he resides in the said house. The statements of the neighbours as well as house owner have been recorded. Learned APP Mr. Soni further submits that the case is not as simple as it is projected by the learned advocate of the applicant. The documents collected by the investigating officer during the course of investigation clearly go on to show that signature as well as photograph of the present applicant pasted upon one document whereupon signature and stamp of the Assistant Commissioner of Dimapur, Nagaland is affixed and it is revealed that the said signature and stamp were forged which clearly go on to show that the documents which is purportedly signed by the applicant and photograph pasted whereupon false and fabricated signature of the government officer is found. Therefore, to verify the veracity of those documents, custodial interrogation of the present applicant is badly needed. He further submits that it is also an admitted position of fact that money had been sent by the present applicant to procure the licence, and he also purchased a gun through the said licence and created gun culture within the territory of the State of Gujarat. Not only that then after, after registration of FIR he has evaded his arrest at the hands of the investigating officer despite the fact that he Page 7 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined was informed to remain present he did not remain present. Learned APP Mr. Soni further submits that, in fact, total 14 to 15 FIRs have been registered within the territory of number of States like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. All the accused persons have procured the gun licence from Nagaland and North Eastern States by supplying false and fabricated documents, and a large scale racket has been organized by the accused person in connivance with each other and indirectly they have promoted gun culture in the society with a sole intent to showcase their power in the society. He further submits that so far the documents collected by the investigating officer clearly go on to show that applicant herein is well aware about the fact that for the purpose of procurement of the licence certain false and fabricated documents/material is required to be placed before the authority concerned, and therefore, since very beginning, his involvement in commission of crime is clearly found out. He further submits that there are two offences in credit of the applicant out of which one offence is pertaining to Arms Act, and though the said offence has already been concluded in consent quash proceedings the Government intends to challenge the said order. Therefore, considering the above-stated factual aspects of the case, this Hon'ble court may not have to exercise discretionary power of bail in favour of the applicant.
5. I have heard and considered the arguments canvassed by the learned advocates for the parties and perused the Page 8 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined material available on record. It is found out from the record that the so-called incident occurred during the period between 04.12.2023 to 09.04.2025 and FIR is registered on 09.04.2025. It prima-facie transpires that the applicant herein has paid huge volume of Rs. 5 lakhs through middleman to the main accused to speed up the process of procuring the gun licence from the State of Nagaland, however, in the process, the relevant documents have been forged, and based upon such illegal process when the applicant has secured the gun licence in his name, he has also purchased gun in his name by paying huge amount. It further prima-facie transpires that the applicant herein had adopted an unlawful practice with regard to his residential address showing that he is a permanent resident of the State of Nagaland with a sole intent to avail gun licence from that State, however, the applicant had never resided in the said area. It further prima-facie transpires from the record that money had been sent by the present applicant to procure the licence, and he purchased a gun and created gun culture within the territory of the State of Gujarat. It also transpires that after registration of the FIR, the applicant had not co-operated with investigating officer and has evaded his arrest at the hands of the investigating officer despite the fact that he had already been informed about the same. It further prima-facie transpires from the record that a large scale racket has been organized by the accused person in connivance with other co-accused persons to indirectly promote gun Page 9 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined culture in the society as a total of 14 to 15 FIRs have been registered within the territory of number of States like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh wherein a similar pattern has surfaced for procuring gun licence from Nagaland and other North Eastern States by supplying false and fabricated documents. It further transpires from the record that there are two offences in credit of the applicant out of which one offence is pertaining to Arms Act. Therefore, this court is of the considered opinion that when the intent of the applicant is malafide and the magnitude of the investigation is ample, at present, custodial interrogation of the present applicant is necessary. Therefore, on strength of the above-stated factual aspects, this court is of the opinion that this is a fit case wherein discretionary power of anticipatory bail in favour of the applicant cannot be exercised.
6. At this stage, it is required to be noted that as this application has been preferred under the provisions of Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of anticipatory bail, I would like to refer the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Siddharam Satlingappa Mhetre Vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors.,, reported in (2011) 1 SCC 694, more particularly Paragraph Nos.14 & 112, which read as under :-
"14. It is clear from the Statement of Objects and Reasons that the purpose of incorporating Section 438 in the Cr.P.C. was to recognize the Page 10 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined importance of personal liberty and freedom in a free and democratic country. When we carefully analyze this section, the wisdom of the legislature becomes quite evident and clear that the legislature was keen to ensure respect for the personal liberty and also pressed in service the age-old principle that an individual is presumed to be innocent till he is found guilty by the court.
112. The following factors and parameters can be taken into consideration while dealing with the anticipatory bail: The nature and gravity of the accusation and the exact role of the accused must be properly comprehended before arrest is made; the antecedents of the applicant including the fact as to whether the accused has previously undergone imprisonment on conviction by a Court in respect of any cognizable offence; The possibility of the applicant to flee from justice; The possibility of the accused's likelihood to repeat similar or the other offences. Whereas the accusation have been made only with the object to injuring or humiliating the applicant by arresting him or her. Impact of grant of anticipatory bail particularly in cases of large magnitude affecting a very large number of people. The courts must evaluate the entire available material against the accused very carefully. The court must also clearly comprehend the exact role of the accused in the Page 11 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined case."
7. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Sumitha Pradeep Vs. Arun Kumar C.K. & Anr., reported in 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1529 held that merely because custodial interrogation was not required by itself could not be a ground to grant anticipatory bail. The first and the foremost thing the Court hearing the anticipatory bail application is to consider is the prima facie case against the accused. The relevant extract of the judgment is reproduced hereinbelow:-
"It may be true, as pointed out by learned counsel appearing for Respondent No.1, that charge-sheet has already been filed. It will be unfair to presume on our part that the Investigating Officer does not require Respondent No.1 for custodial interrogation for the purpose of further investigation. Be that as it may, even assuming it a case where Respondent No.1 is not required for custodial interrogation, we are satisfied that the High Court ought not to have granted discretionary relief of anticipatory bail. We are dealing with a matter wherein the original complainant (appellant herein) has come before this Court praying that the anticipatory bail granted by the High Court to the accused should be cancelled. To put it in other words, the complainant says that the High Court wrongly exercised its discretion while granting anticipatory bail to the accused in a very serious Page 12 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined crime like POCSO and, therefore, the order passed by the High Court granting anticipatory bail to the accused should be quashed and set aside. In many anticipatory bail matters, we have noticed one common argument being canvassed that no custodial interrogation is required and, therefore, anticipatory bail may be granted. There appears to be a serious misconception of law that if no case for custodial interrogation is made out by the prosecution, then that alone would be a good ground to grant anticipatory bail. Custodial interrogation can be one of the relevant aspects to be considered along with other grounds while deciding an application seeking anticipatory bail. There may be many cases in which the custodial interrogation of the accused may not be required, but that does not mean that the prima facie case against the accused should be ignored or overlooked and he should be granted anticipatory bail. The first and foremost thing that the court hearing an anticipatory bail application should consider is the prima facie case put up against the accused. Thereafter, the nature of the offence should be looked into along with the severity of the punishment. Custodial interrogation can be one of the grounds to decline custodial interrogation. However, even if custodial interrogation is not required or necessitated, by itself, cannot be a Page 13 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined ground to grant anticipatory bail."
8. Thus while taking into consideration the ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Siddharam Satlingappa Mhetre (supra) as also ratio laid down in other decisions as stated above, I have gone through the contents of the FIR, which is placed on record and also considered the affidavit of the investigating officer filed before the learned Judge concerned opposing the bail application preferred by the applicant. Upon going through the contents of the FIR, it appears that prima facie case is made out against the applicant and material collected so far suggests the involvement of the applicant in the commission of crime.
9. It is required to be noted at this stage that the Hon'ble Supreme Court in catena of judicial pronouncements have observed that a court may reject an anticipatory bail application when custodial interrogation is deemed necessary for a thorough investigation, even if the applicant argues that such interrogation isn't required. Further, while custodial interrogation can be a factor in denying anticipatory bail, it is not the sole determinant, and courts will also consider other factors related to the severity of the offense and the need for a comprehensive investigation.
10. In the above facts and circumstances and considering the observations on the legal aspect of the matter, as applicant is actively involved in the offence, I have absolutely no doubt that if applicant is equipped with such an order of anticipatory bail before he is Page 14 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/15989/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/08/2025 undefined interrogated by the Police, in that event, it would greatly harm the investigation and would impede the prospects of unearthing the serious offence. Therefore, I do not find any exceptional ground to exercise its discretionary jurisdiction under Section 482 of the BNSS to grant anticipatory bail. More so, investigation is still going on in the present case. It is settled proposition of law that power exercisable under Section 482 BNSS, is somewhat discretionary in character and it is to be exercised with caution in exceptional cases.
11. Hence, the present application seeking for anticipatory bail is hereby rejected.
12. Needless to say that observations and findings made hereinabove are limited to the decision of these pre- arrest bail applications, and shall not influence any other proceedings arise from impugned FIR.
(DIVYESH A. JOSHI,J) AMIT ITALIAN Page 15 of 15 Uploaded by AMIT DAHYABHAI ITALIAN(HCW0112) on Tue Aug 12 2025 Downloaded on : Tue Aug 12 21:38:33 IST 2025