Rajasthan High Court - Jodhpur
Surendra Kumar Soni Alias S.K. Soni vs Union Of India on 14 October, 2025
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT
JODHPUR
S.B. Criminal Appeal (Sb) No. 1877/2025
Surendra Kumar Soni @ S.K. Soni S/o Shri Laxmi Narayan Soni,
Aged About 62 Years, 104, Maharaja Apartment, Gulab Bag
Road, Udaipur, Rajasthan, Permanrnt Address Village
Rangbadi,tehsil Ladpura, Kota (Lodged In Central Jail, Jodhpur)
----Appellant
Versus
Union Of India, Through CBI, Jodhpur
----Respondent
For Appellant(s) : Mr. Shreedhar Purohit
Mr. Shashi Purohit
Mr. Ramsukh Mali
Ms. Yamini Aswani
Ms. Shivani Mutha
For Respondent(s) : Mr. PC Solanki, special PP (for C.B.I.)
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP SHAH
Order
14/10/2025
IN S.B. Criminal Appeal (SB) No.1877/2025:-
1. Admit.
IN S.B. Criminal Misc. Suspension of Sentence Application
No.1406/2025:-
1. Heard learned counsel for the appellant-applicant as well as
learned Public Prosecutor and perused the material available on
record.
2. Learned counsel for the appellant-applicant submits that the
appellant-applicant has been convicted for the offences punishable
under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention
of Corruption Act, 1988, and the conviction imposed upon the
appellant-applicant is of four years' simple imprisonment, and the
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appellant-applicant was on bail during the course of trial. He
submits that the learned Trial Court has not considered the fact
that the income of the appellant-applicant's wife, who was running
a separate business under the name and style of Pearl Tours &
Travel, has also been erroneously included in the income of the
appellant-applicant, while finding his income disproportionate to
the known sources of his earning. He also submits that there are
bleak chances of hearing of the appeal in near future. He,
therefore, implores this Court to allow the suspension of sentence
application of the appellant-applicant.
3. Per contra, learned counsel appearing for the Central Bureau
of Investigation opposes the application for suspension of
sentence and submits that the learned Trial Court has considered
the entire evidence threadbare, including the fact of the alleged
income of the appellant-applicant's wife, and thereafter, has
rightly convicted the appellant-applicant by passing a detailed
reasoned order.
4. Upon consideration of the arguments advanced on behalf of
both the sides and having regard to the facts and circumstances of
the case, including the facts that the conviction of appellant-
applicant is of four years' simple imprisonment, the appellant-
applicant was on bail during the course of trial, the arguable
points raised by the learned counsel for the appellant-applicant,
and the chances of hearing of the appeal in near future being
bleak, this Court is of the opinion that it is a fit case for
suspending the sentence awarded to the accused appellant-
applicant.
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5. Accordingly, the application for suspension of sentence filed
under Section 430 of BNSS is allowed and it is ordered that the
sentence passed by the learned Special Judge C.B.I., Jodhpur
Metropolitan, District Jodhpur, vide judgment dated 14.07.2025 in
Special Criminal Case No.07/2014 (CIS No.65/2014), against the
appellant-applicant Surendra Kumar Soni @ S.K. Soni S/o Shri
Laxmi Narayan Soni, shall remain suspended till final disposal of
the aforesaid appeal and he shall be released on bail, provided he
executes a personal bond in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- with two
sureties of Rs.50,000/- each to the satisfaction of the learned trial
Judge for his appearance in this court on 14.11.2025 and
whenever ordered to do so till the disposal of the appeal on the
conditions indicated below:-
1. That he/she/they will appear before the trial
Court in the month of January of every year till the
appeal is decided.
2. That if the applicant(s) changes the place of
residence, he/she/they will give in writing
his/her/their changed address to the trial Court as
well as to the counsel in the High Court.
3. Similarly, if the sureties change their address(s),
they will give in writing their changed address to
the trial Court.
6. The learned trial Court shall keep the record of attendance of
the accused-applicant(s) in a separate file. Such file be registered
as Criminal Misc. Case related to original case in which the
accused-applicant(s) was/were tried and convicted. A copy of this
order shall also be placed in that file for ready reference. Criminal
Misc. file shall not be taken into account for statistical purpose
relating to pendency and disposal of cases in the trial Court. In
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case the said accused applicant(s) does not appear before the trial
Court, the learned trial Judge shall report the matter to the High
Court for cancellation of bail.
(SANDEEP SHAH),J
47-devrajP/-
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