The division judge bench of Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of the Apex Court in the case of Makhijani Pushpak Harish Vs The State of Gujarat held that the pre-condition of furnishing a bank guarantee for the grant of bail is not sustainable in the eye of law.
Brief facts:
The factual matrix of the case is that the Appellant was arrested on the basis of the complaint filed by the Superintendent (Prevention) of Central GST and Central Excise for the offences punishable under Sections 69, 132(1)(a) of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017. Thereafter, the Appellant was granted bail after filing the application under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. However, the bail granted was subjected to the condition that the Appellant has to submit a bank guarantee of Rs. 3 Crores.
The Appellant approached the High Court and the High Court reduced the amount of Rs 3 Crores to Rs 1.5 Crores.
Observations of the court:
The Hon’ble Court observed that the court in a number of cases considered such a pre-condition of depositing money or providing a bank guarantee on a number of occasions, where the pre-condition has been deemed unfavourable.
The Apex Court relied upon the judgments titled Subhash Chouhan Vs. Union of India, and Anatbhai Ashokbhai Shah Vs. State of Gujarat & Ors and the court considered that the facts of the present case and the aforesaid cases are similar. Therefore, there is no reason to deviate from the reasoning given in the aforesaid two cases.
Based on these considerations, the top court held that the pre-condition of furnishing a bank guarantee imposed by the High Court can’t be sustained.
The decision of the court:
With the above direction, the Hon’ble Court allowed the present appeal.
Case Title: Makhijani Pushpak Harish Vs The State of Gujarat
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Krishna Murari and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah
Case No.: Criminal Appeal No. 1193 of 2023 (SLP (Crl.) No. 2868 of 2023)
Advocates for the Appellant: Mr. Bharat Rai Chandani, Adv. Mr. Deepak Kumar Khokhar, Adv. Mr. Aneesh Mittal, AOR Mrs. Sonia Abrol, Adv.
Advocates for the Respondent: Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Devyani Bhatt, Adv.
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