On January 04, 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while denying an anticipatory bail to the people alleged to be involved in siphoning off the funds of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha by transferring the same to their personal accounts, observed that “the Gurudwara is a pious place and the misappropriation of its funds hurts the sentiments of several people”.

Brief Facts:

The present petition was filed by the petitioner seeking an anticipatory bail in a case bearing an FIR no. 974 dated 28.09.2022, registered at the Police Station Barwala, District Hisar, under section 420, 406 and 120-B IPC. There were allegations against the petitioner that they in connivance with each other siphoned off the funds of Gurudwara Singh Sabha, by transferring the same to their personal accounts and even to the account of a private company run by petitioner No.2.

Contentions of the Petitioners:

The counsel for the petitioners submitted that they were falsely implicated in the present case and they were the competent members of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Barwala (Sikh Temple), and used to do all the activities of Gurudwara in a legal and lawful manner for the welfare of the Gurudwara. Moreover, even a single penny was not usurped by the petitioners.

The counsel further contended that the amount withdrawn by the petitioners, was used for the construction and repairing work of the building of the Gurudwara and as well as for the shops of the Gurudwara Committee. It was additionally contended that the shops under the ownership of Gurudwara were rented out to the relatives of the complainant, but the rent was not paid by them for a considerable period and they wanted to grab the property of Gurudwara for which the Committee of Gurudwara already filed various rent petitions against those tenants and the present FIR was the outcome of that procedure.

Contentions of the Respondents:

The counsels representing the state and the complainant, while opposing the grant of a bail, submitted that there were several FDRs in the name of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha, which were supposed to be matured in December, 2022, but by closing the same prematurely, the petitioners in connivance with each other transferred about Rs.71 lakh to their personal bank accounts and even to the account of a private company run by petitioner No.2.

Observations of the Court:

The Hon’ble court observed that there were serious allegations against the petitioners that they transferred the funds of the Gurudwara Singh Sabha to their personal accounts and even to a private company ran by petitioner no. 2.

The court further observed that the Gurudwara was a pious place and the misappropriation of its funds would hurt the sentiments of several people. Moreover, setting the petitioners free would have set a bad example and would have given oxygen to the fraudsters. Hence, the concession of an anticipatory bail was denied.

The Decision of the Court:

The petition was dismissed and the court found the requirements of the petitioners for a custodial interrogation to recover the amount and to take the investigation to its logical conclusion.

Case Title: Sarjeet Singh @ Surjeet Singh and others Vs. State of Haryana

Coram: Hon’ble Justice Harnaresh Singh Gill

Case No.- CRM-M-60673-2022

Advocate for Petitioner: Mr. Aditya Sanghi

Advocate for respondent: Mr. Rajesh Gaur

Read Judgement @LatestLaws.com

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Shalini