[Cites 11, Cited by 0]
Gujarat High Court
Hardiksinh Lilubha Gohil vs State Of Gujarat on 12 May, 2026
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/11502/2026 ORDER DATED: 12/05/2026
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR REGULAR BAIL - BEFORE
CHARGESHEET) NO. 11502 of 2026
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HARDIKSINH LILUBHA GOHIL & ORS.
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
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Appearance:
MR MUNJAL V ACHARYA(10678) for the Applicant(s) No. 1,2,3
MS. DHWANI TRIPATHI, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HASMUKH D. SUTHAR
Date : 12/05/2026
ORDER
[1.0] RULE. Learned APP waives service of notice of rule on
behalf of the respondent-State.
[2.0] Learned counsel appearing for the applicants does not
press this application and seeks permission to withdraw the
present application with a liberty to file appropriate application
before the trial Court after filing of a charge-sheet qua applicant
No.1, namely Hardiksinh Lilubha Gohil. Permission, as prayed
for, is granted. The present application stands dismissed as
withdrawn with above liberty qua applicant No.1-Hardiksinh
Lilubha Gohil . Rule is discharged qua applicant No.1-
Hardiksinh Lilubha Gohil .
[3.0] The present application is filed under Section 483 of the
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short "BNSS")
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/11502/2026 ORDER DATED: 12/05/2026
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for regular bail in connection with FIR being C.R. No.
11198002260171 of 2026 registered with Alang Police
Station, Bhavnagar, for the offences under Sections 65(a),
65(b), 65(d), 65(e), 65(f), 81 and 98(2) of the Prohibition Act and
Sections 111(1) and 111(3) of the BNS.
[4.0] Learned advocate appearing on behalf of the applicants
submits that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely
implicated in the offence. Substantial part of investigation is
over. Nothing is required to be recovered or discovered. He
therefore submits that, considering the nature of the offence,
the applicants Nos.2 and 3 may be enlarged on regular bail by
imposing suitable conditions.
[5.0] Learned APP appearing on behalf of the respondent-State
has opposed the present application and requested to dismiss
the present application for regular bail on the ground that the
applicants are very much involved in the present offence and
considering the gravity of offence, no case is made out to
entertain present bail application. Chargesheet is yet to be filed.
She raised a concern regarding their involvement, as one of
them to be the real brother of applicant-accused No.1, in whose
field such illegal activity was being carried out. Considering the
aforesaid facts, stringent conditions are required to be imposed.
Therefore, present application does not deserve consideration.
[6.0] While granting bail, the Court has to consider the
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/11502/2026 ORDER DATED: 12/05/2026
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involvement of the accused in the alleged offence, the
jurisdiction to grant bail has to be exercised on the basis of the
well settled principles having regard to the facts and
circumstances of each case and the following factors are to be
taken into consideration while considering an application for
bail: (i) the nature of accusation and the severity of the
punishment and the nature of the materials relied upon by the
prosecution; (ii) reasonable apprehension of tampering with the
witnesses and threat to the complainant or the witnesses; (iii)
reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at
the time of trial or the likelihood of his abscondence; (iv)
character behaviour and standing of the accused and the
circumstances which are peculiar to the accused; (v) larger
interest of the public or the State and similar other
considerations are required to be considered.
[7.0] I have heard the learned advocates appearing on behalf of
the respective parties and perused the investigation papers.
Following aspects have been considered:
(1) Substantial part of investigation is over;
(2) None of the offence alleged is punishable with life
sentence or death penalty ;
(3) Applicants are behind the bar since 21.04.2026;
(4) There is nothing to be recovered or discovered from
the applicants;
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R/CR.MA/11502/2026 ORDER DATED: 12/05/2026
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(5) The allegation against the present applicants is that
they had aided and abetted for preparing country-
made liquor. Expect this, no other role is attributed
to the present applicants and they have no past
antecedents.
(6) Obviously commencement and conclusion of trial will
take its own time.
(7) Though the applicants are having past antecedent,
they are presumed to be innocent till proven guilty;
[8.0] This Court has also taken into consideration the law laid
down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sanjay Chandra
vs. Central Bureau of Investigation reported in [2012]1
SCC 40 as well as in the case of Gudikanti Narasimhulu
And Ors vs. Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra
Pradesh reported in (1978)1 SCC 240. Obviously, the
conclusion of trial will take time and keeping the accused
behind the bars is nothing but amounts to pre-trial conviction
and therefore, considering the celebrated principle of bail
jurisprudence is that "bail is a rule and jail is exception" as well
as the concept of personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21
of the Constitution of India, present application deserves
consideration.
[9.0] In the facts and circumstances of the case and considering
the nature of the allegations made against the applicants in the
FIR, without discussing the evidence in detail, prima facie, this
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R/CR.MA/11502/2026 ORDER DATED: 12/05/2026
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Court is of the opinion that this is a fit case to exercise the
discretion and enlarge the applicants on regular bail. Hence, the
present application is allowed qua applicant No.2, namely
Arjujnsinh Lilubha Gohil and applicant No.3, namely
Surabhai Dudabhai Jambucha. The applicant is ordered to be
released on regular bail in connection with FIR being C.R. No.
11198002260171 of 2026 registered with Alang Police
Station, Bhavnagar, on executing a personal bond of
Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty-five Thousand only) each with one
surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial Court
and subject to the conditions that they shall;
(a) not take undue advantage of liberty or misuse liberty;
(b) not act in a manner injurious to the interest of the
prosecution & shall not obstruct or hamper the police
investigation and shall not to play mischief with the
evidence collected or yet to be collected by the police;
(c) surrender passport, if any, to the Trial Court within a
week;
(d) not leave the State of Gujarat without prior permission
of the Trial Court concerned;
(e) mark presence before the concerned Police Station
once in a week till filing of the chargesheet and after
filing of the chargesheet, mark presence before the
concerned police station once in a month for a period of
six months;
(f) furnish the Aadhaar card, email ID/present address
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R/CR.MA/11502/2026 ORDER DATED: 12/05/2026
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of his residence to the Investigating Officer and also
to the Court at the time of execution of the bond and
shall not change the residence/contact number
without prior permission of Trial Court;
(g) not to indulge in any illegal activity failing which
learned trial Court shall issue warrant and cancel the
bail of the applicants.
(h) not to enter into Ghogha Taluka for a period of six
months except for marking presence before the
concerned police station and/or for attending
Court;
(i) Not to contact or try to contact directly or indirectly the
complainant/victim/witnesses connected with the
offence.
[10.0] The authorities will release the applicants only if they are
not required in connection with any other offence for the time
being. If breach of any of the above conditions is committed, the
Sessions Judge concerned will be free to issue warrant or take
appropriate action in the matter.
[11.0] Bail bond to be executed before the lower Court having
jurisdiction to try the case. It will be open for the concerned
Court to delete, modify and/or relax any of the above conditions,
in accordance with law.
[12.0] At the trial, the trial Court shall not be influenced by the
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observations of preliminary nature qua the evidence at this
stage made by this Court while enlarging the applicants on bail.
[13.0] Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent qua
applicant No.2, namely Arjujnsinh Lilubha Gohil and applicant
No.3, namely Surabhai Dudabhai Jambucha. Direct service is
permitted
(HASMUKH D. SUTHAR, J.)
DHARMENDRA KUMAR
