Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
In Re : Faruk Mondal vs State Of Bihar on 3 June, 2021
03.06.2021
Court No.28
Avijit Mitra
CRM 1304 of 2020 (Via video Conference)
+
CRAN 1 of 2020
In Re:- An application for bail under section 439 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure ;
And
In Re : Faruk Mondal
Petitioner
Mr. Pratip Mukherjee
For the Petitioner
Mr. N. Ahmed,
Md. Anwar Hossain,
Ms. Sreyashee Biswas
For the State
The present application under Section 439 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure has been preferred by the petitioner in
connection with Hanskhali Police Station Case No. 381 of 2017
dated 09.12.2017 under sections 489B/489C of the Indian Penal
Code.
Mr. Mukherjee, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner
submits that the petitioner has been falsely implicated alleging
that fake currency notes of a total amount of Rs. 10,500/- had
been recovered from his possession. Though chargesheet has been
submitted and charges have been framed there had been no
progress thereafter and the petitioner is languishing in custody
since 09th December, 2017. He further submits that out of total
seven witnesses none have been examined till date. Drawing the
attention of this Court to the earlier order passed in the present
application, he submits that the investigating agency was directed
to submit a report initially on 6th February, 2020 but the same
had not been filed till date.
Mr. Ahmed, learned advocate appearing for the State opposes
the petitioner's prayer and submits that the delay which had
occasioned is not totally attributable to the State. In view of the
nature of offence the petitioner is not entitled to any relief as
prayed for in the present application.
We have heard the learned advocates appearing for the
respective parties and considered the materials in the case diary.
From the sequence of facts it appears that the petitioner cannot be
held responsible for the delay which has occasioned. The
petitioner is languishing in custody since 09 th December, 2017
and there is no possibility towards early conclusion of trial. Article
21 of the Constitution creates a right in favour of the accused to
be tried speedily and long delay may be taken as presumptive
proof of prejudice [See the judgments delivered in the cases of
Hussainara Khatoon - Vs- State of Bihar, Patna, reported in (1980)
1 SCC 81 and Abdul Rehman Antulay & Ors. -Vs- R.S. Nayak &
Anr., reported in (1992) 1 SCC 225].
In the present pandemic situation and the rapid proliferation
of the virus, bail prayer needs to be considered liberally [See the
order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Re: Contagion of
Covid-19 Virus in Prisons].
Applying the proposition of law to the facts of the present
case, we are of the opinion that further detention of the petitioner,
who is in custody since 09th December, 2017, is not warranted in
the facts and circumstances of the present case.
Accordingly, we direct that the petitioner, namely, Faruk
Mondal, shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.
10,000/- with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom
must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Additional District
and Sessions Judge at Ranaghat, Nadia on condition that the
petitioner shall reside within the jurisdiction of Hanskhali Police
Station and shall meet with the Officer-in-Charge of Hanskhali
Police Station once a fortnight until further orders.
He shall also attend the learned Trial Court on all the dates,
as specified for hearing.
It is further directed that the petitioner shall not tamper with
the evidence or intimidate the witnesses.
In the event he fails to comply with the aforesaid directions,
without any justifiable cause, the learned Court below shall be at
liberty to cancel his bail, in accordance with law, without further
reference to this Court.
With the aforesaid observations, the application for bail,
being CRM No. 1304 of 2020 and connected application being
CRAN 1 of 2020, are disposed of.
All parties shall act on the server copies of this order duly
downloaded from the official website of this Court.
(Shampa Sarkar, J) (Tapabrata Chakraborty, J)
