Gujarat High Court
Umesh S/O Jagdish Vishwanath Bhagat vs State Of Gujarat on 8 July, 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/10886/2025 ORDER DATED: 08/07/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR SUCCESSIVE REGULAR BAIL -
AFTER CHARGESHEET) NO. 10886 of 2025
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UMESH S/O JAGDISH VISHWANATH BHAGAT
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
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Appearance:
MR CB DASTOOR(238) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR VARUN C DASTOOR(13858) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR AMIT S SHUKLA(13499) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR BHADRISH RAJU with NIMIT Y SHUKLA(8338) for the Respondent(s)
No. 1
MR MEET THAKKAR, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M. R. MENGDEY
Date : 08/07/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. The Applicant has filed this Application under Section 483
of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for enlarging
the Applicant on Regular Bail in connection with FIR being C.R.
No.11191011240254 registered with DCB Police Station,
Ahmedabad for the offence under Sections 406, 409, 420, 465,
467, 468, 471, 477(a) and 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code.
2. Heard learned advocate Mr. CB Dastoor appearing for the
applicant. He submitted that the applicant has been arrested in
connection with the present offence on 17.12.2024 and since
then he is in custody. The investigation is over and charge-sheet
has been filed. The offence alleged against the applicant is triable
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R/CR.MA/10886/2025 ORDER DATED: 08/07/2025
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by the Court of Magistrate. The prosecution has cited as many
as 63 witnesses in the charge-sheet. There is no possibility of
trial of the offence getting concluded in near future. He further
submitted that the applicant has already deposited an amount of
rupees 25 lakhs before the learned Trial Court and the applicant
is further willing to deposit the amount of rupees 20 lakhs more
and therefore submitted to allow the present application and
enlarge the applicant on bail subject to suitable conditions.
3. Learned APP has opposed the present application
contending that the present applicant is the mastermind in
commission of the present offence. The applicant was working as
the head of the finance department in the complainant company
and it was at his behest that the company was duped to the tune
of rupees 12 crores. He therefore submitted to dismiss the
present application.
4. Learned advocate Mr. Bhadrish Raju appearing for the
complainant has opposed the present application contending
that the present applicant was working as the head of finance
department of the company and therefore it was the primary
duty of the applicant to look after the finances in the interests of
the company. The applicant instead chose to cause huge
financial loss to the company for his personal gains. He further
submitted that having regard to the manner in which the well
orchestrated crime has been committed by the present applicant,
he has no scope for showing his bona fide by depositing some
amount. He further submitted that the company has been duped
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R/CR.MA/10886/2025 ORDER DATED: 08/07/2025
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to the tune of rupees 12.12 crores by the present applicant and
the other co-accused. The complainant company is a reputed
company in the business of telecommunications. The company
had time and again entered in to contracts and sub-contracts
for maintenance and enhancement of the of the telecoms
services. Other co-accused namely Mr. Chandresh Dipakbhai
Gangaramani, Mr. Kartik Harjivanbhai Solanki and Mr. Ankur
Hamirbhai Lakum were working in the finance department of the
company and it was their duty to verify and check the bills
related to tower maintenance and repair, submitted by the
vendors and thereafter, those bills were processed through the
system application of the company. The vendors who were
associated with the company were assigned the vendor codes.
However, the vendor codes were obtained for certain vendors by
the accused persons bypassing the procedure prescribed for the
same. Being the finance head of the Gujarat region, it was the
duty on the part of the present applicant to approve those bills
by using the ID and Password and send them to the head office
and thereafter, the payment would be made by the company in
fovour of the respective vendors. The applicant herein had
shared his ID and Password with the aforesaid co-accused and
with the help of the same, the bills were uploaded on the system.
It had came to the notice of the company that several vendors
had submitted false and fake bills for the work which was not at
all carried out. In total, 611 such bills were submitted to the
company and the payment worth rupees 12 crores was made by
the company on the basis of such bills. The applicant herein
along with the other co-accused, taking disadvantage of lacuna
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R/CR.MA/10886/2025 ORDER DATED: 08/07/2025
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in the system of company, have committed the present offence.
He therefore submitted to dismiss the present applicant. Learned
advocate for the complainant has sought to rely upon following
judgments:
1) Judgment delivered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in
case of State of Bihar and Another Vs. Amit Kumar
Alias Bachcha Rai reported in (2017) 13 SCC 751;
2) Judgment delivered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in
case of Ramesh Kumar Vs. State of Delhi reported in
(2023) 7 SCC 461;
3) Judgment delivered by this Court in case of
Dineshbhai Jethalal Patel Vs. State of Gujarat
passed in Criminal Misc. Application No.12320 of
2023.
5. Heard learned advocates for the parties and perused the
material on record. From the record, it appears that the present
applicant was working as the head of the finance department of
the company. The record indicates that while working as such,
the applicant either himself or through the other co-accused had
submitted 611 bills submitted by respective vendors to the head
office with the use of his own ID and Password. The investigation
reveals that the work for which these 611 bills were prepared
and submitted, was not at all carried out and the present
applicant, despite being aware of the such fact, had submitted
those bills to the head office for payment and thereafter the
payment worth of rupees 12.12 crores had been made by the
company on the basis of those bills. The record further indicates
that after the amount of those bills had been credited to the
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accounts of respective vendors, the applicant herein had received
the said amount from those vendors in his bank account after
deducting some part of it towards commission to the respective
vendors. The record also indicates that many of vendors whose
bills had been submitted were never into the business of the
kind for which the bills were submitted.
6. Learned advocate for the applicant has submitted that the
applicant has already deposited the amount of rupees 25 lakhs
and he is also ready to deposit more amount of rupees 20 lakhs
to show his bona fides. Learned advocate appearing for the
complainant appears to be right in contending that after having
committed the financial irregularity of this magnitude, it does
not in the mouth of the applicant that he is ready to deposit
some amount. The material available on record indicates that
the present applicant is the main perpetrator of the present
offence as he was very much aware about short comings of the
system of the company and had taken disadvantage of the same
to the fullest.
7. Having regard to these aspects, there is no ground made
out. Accordingly, the application is disposed of as dismissed.
(M. R. MENGDEY,J)
AHS
