[Cites 11, Cited by 0]

Gujarat High Court

Shravansinh Akherajsinh Rajput vs State Of Gujarat on 21 April, 2026

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                             R/CR.MA/8421/2026                                       ORDER DATED: 21/04/2026

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                                     IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

                        R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR ANTICIPATORY BAIL) NO. 8421
                                                  of 2026

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                                              SHRAVANSINH AKHERAJSINH RAJPUT
                                                           Versus
                                                    STATE OF GUJARAT
                       ==========================================================
                       Appearance:
                       MR NIRAV K PADHIYAR(5678) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
                       ALPESHSINH B RAJPUT(8982) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
                       MR YUVRAJ BRAHMBHATT, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
                       ==========================================================

                          CORAM:HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE SANJEEV J.THAKER

                                                              Date : 21/04/2026

                                                               ORAL ORDER

1. By way of this application under Section 482 of

the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 ( for short,

"BNSS"), the applicant has prayed for anticipatory bail in the event of arrest in connection with the FIR being C.R.

No.11996005250242 of 2025, registered with the Suigam

Police Station, District : Vav-Tharad, for the offences

punishable under Sections 65(a), 65(e), 116-B, 98(2), 99, 83

and 81 of the Prohibition Act.

2. Rule. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor waives

service of notice of rule for respondent - State of Gujarat.

3. Learned advocate for the applicant submits that

the nature of allegations are such that custodial interrogation

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at this stage is not necessary. It is further submitted that

the applicant will keep himself available during the course of

investigation and trial also and will not flee from justice.

He further submitted that the applicant is not aware of the

incident and on the basis of the statement of the co-accused,

he has been made an accused; that the entire allegation

against the accused is that the applicant has loaded the

liquor in the vehicle and the applicant has no relation with

the allegations made in the FIR; that he never loaded the

liquor as alleged in the FIR; that the applicant is residing at

Rajasthan and he never supplied liquor in Gujarat; that even

if the allegations made in the FIR are taken into

consideration, the role attributed to the present applicant is

only that he has loaded the liquor in the offending vehicle.

3.1 The learned advocate for the applicant further

submits that the applicant shall abide by all the conditions

that may be imposed while granting anticipatory bail to the

applicant. Accordingly, it is urged that this application may

be allowed by granting anticipatory bail to the applicant.

4. As against this, the learned Additional Public

Prosecutor appearing on behalf of the respondent - State has

opposed grant of anticipatory bail looking to the nature and

gravity of the offence and requested not to entertain this

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application. She submitted that the applicant is dealing in

transporting illicit liquor in Gujarat; that the pickup vehicle

bearing registration No.GJ-08-AW-6784, which is of his

ownership, which was used for transporting the said liquor, is

also under investigation.

5. Having heard the learned advocates appearing for

the parties and perusing the papers available on record, it is

incumbent upon the Court to exercise its discretion

judiciously, cautiously and strictly in compliance with the

basic principles laid down in plethora of decisions of the

Apex Court on the point. It is well settled that, among other

circumstances, the factors to be borne in mind while

considering an application for bail are (i) the nature and

gravity of the accusation; (ii) the antecedents of the applicant including the fact as to whether he has previously undergone

imprisonment on conviction by a Court in respect of any

cognizable offence; (iii) the possibility of the applicant to flee

from justice; and (iv) where the accusation has been made

with the object of injuring or humiliating the applicant by

having him so arrested. Though, at the stage of granting

bail, an elaborate examination of evidence and detailed

reasons touching the merits of the case, which may prejudice

the case of accused, should be avoided, however, following

aspects have been taken into consideration :

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a) In investigation, it has been found out that

the owner of the vehicle viz., Mafaji Madhaji

Thakore had sold the vehicle to one Ilias

Iqbalkhan Jamad and thereafter, said Ilias

has sold the vehicle to Amjadkhan Rasulkhan

and as per the investigation, the owner of

the said vehicle is Madevbhi Bhurabhai

Rajput.

b) Offence is not punishable with life

imprisonment or death penalty;

c) The applicant has no past antecedents;

d) The learned advocate for the applicant has

assured that the applicant will not flee from

justice and would be available during investigation as well as the trial.

e) Nothing is required to be recovered or

discovered from the applicant;

f) No case for custodial interrogation is made

out;


                                         g)         Even considering the decisions in the case of

                                                    Naim      Ahamed             vs.        State     NCT        of     Delhi

                                                    reported in 2023 SCC OnLine (SC) 89 as

well as unreported decision of Bombay High

Court in the case of Anurag Ravindra

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Umaley vs. The State of Maharashtra;

6. Considering the aforesaid aspects and the law laid

down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Siddharam

Satlingappa Mhetre v. State of Maharashtra and Others, reported in (2011) 1 SCC 6941, wherein the Hon'ble Apex Court reiterated the law laid down by the Constitution Bench

in the case of Shri Gurubaksh Singh Sibbia & Others, reported in (1980) 2 SCC 665 and also the decision in the case of Sushila Aggarwal v. State (NCT of Delhi), reported in

(2020) 5 SCC 1, the Court is inclined to allow the present application.

7. In the result, this application is allowed by

directing that in the event of arrest/ appearance of the applicant in connection with the above-referred FIR, the

applicant shall be released on bail on furnishing a personal

bond of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) with one surety of

like amount on the following conditions that applicant:

(a) shall cooperate with the investigation and make

available for interrogation whenever required;

(b) shall not directly or indirectly make any

inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted

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with the fact of the case so as to dissuade him from

disclosing such facts to the court or to any police

officer;

(c) shall not obstruct or hamper the police

investigation and not to play mischief with the evidence

collected or yet to be collected by the police;

(d) shall remain present at the concerned Police

Station on 30.04.2026 between 11.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m.;

(e) shall at the time of execution of bond, furnish the

address to the investigating officer and the court

concerned and shall not change residence till the final

disposal of the case till further orders;

(f) shall not leave India without the permission of the

Court and if having passport shall deposit the same

before the trial Court within a week;

(g) It is open to the police or the investigating agency

to move the learned trial Court for a direction under

Section 483(2) of the BNSS to arrest the accused, in

the event of violation of any term, such as absconding,

non-cooperating during investigation, evasion,

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intimidation or inducement to witnesses with a view to

influence outcome of the investigation or trial, etc.

7.1 At the trial, the Trial Court shall not be

influenced by the prima facie observations made by this

Court while considering the bail application.

8. It is made clear that this order of anticipatory

bail does not in any manner limit or restrict the rights or

duties of the police or investigative agency to investigate into

the charges against the applicant who is granted pre-arrest

bail.