Allahabad High Court
Sonu Kumar vs State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Of ... on 1 April, 2025
Author: Manish Mathur
Bench: Manish Mathur
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH
?Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:17922
Court No. - 13
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 2679 of 2025
Applicant :- Sonu Kumar
Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Of Home Lko.
Counsel for Applicant :- Nadeem Murtaza,Bhupendra Singh Bisht,Parth Anand,Vinay Kumar Pandey
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Manish Mathur,J.
1. Heard learned counsel for applicant, learned Additional Government Advocate appearing on behalf of State and perused the record.
2. This first bail application has been filed with regard to Case Crime No. 1 of 2022 under Section 406, 420, 506, 467, 468, 471, 120B of IPC, Police Station Hasanganj, District Lucknow.
3. As per contents of FIR, one Usha Chaudhary has been nominated, it has been alleged that the said nominated person induced the informant to invest a substantial amount in her company and on the basis of forged documents sought to obtain a housing loan from HDFC bank.
4. It has been submitted by learned counsel for applicant that he has been falsely implicated in the charges levelled against him and that he is not named in the F.I.R. and after filing of charge sheet, his name surfaced during further investigation and in the subsequent statement of the informant It is submitted that only role attributed to applicant is of having being introduced to the informant by said Usha Chaudhary. It is further submitted that applicant does not have any previous criminal history and is under incarceration since 5th March, 2025.
5. Learned A.G.A. has opposed bail application with submission that subsequent statement of informant clearly indicates role of applicant in the forgery committed by Usha Chaudhrary. It is however admitted that the applicant does not have any previous criminal history and is an employee of HDFC bank.
6. Upon consideration of submissions advanced by learned counsel for parties and upon perusal of material on record, prima facie subject to evidence led in trial, it appears that applicant's name has been shown involved on the basis of confessional statement of informant in which also the only role attributed is of having been introduced to the informant and accompanied them for the purposes of opening bank account. It does not appear that the applicant was beneficiary of the said transaction. He is under incarceration since 5th March, 2025 without previous criminal history.
7. Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Sanjay Chandra v. Central Bureau of Investigation, reported in (2012) 1 SCC 40 has specifically held that bail is to be a norm and an under-trial is not required to be in jail for ever pending trial. Relevant paragraphs of the judgment are as under :-
"21. In bail applications, generally, it has been laid down from the earliest times that the object of bail is to secure the appearance of the accused person at his trial by reasonable amount of bail. The object of bail is neither punitive nor preventative. Deprivation of liberty must be considered a punishment, unless it is required to ensure that an accused person will stand his trial when called upon. The courts owe more than verbal respect to the principle that punishment begins after conviction, and that every man is deemed to be innocent until duly tried and duly found guilty."
"27. This Court, time and again, has stated that bail is the rule and committal to jail an exception. It has also observed that refusal of bail is a restriction on the personal liberty of the individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution."
8. Looking to the nature of allegations levelled against the applicant and submission made in the bail application, without expressing any opinion on the merits of case and considering the nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, particularly since no reasonable apprehension of tampering with the witnesses has been alleged, prima facie, this Court finds, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail in this case.
9. Accordingly bail application is allowed.
10. Let applicant Sonu Kumar involved in the aforesaid case crime be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions which are being imposed in the interest of justice:-
(i) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.
(ii) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel. In case of his absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against him under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iii) In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure his presence proclamation under Section 82 Cr.P.C. is issued and the applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against him, in accordance with law, under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iv) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. If in the opinion of the trial court, absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against him in accordance with law.
Order Date :- 1.4.2025
prabhat
