Rohtash Singh v. State of Haryana and Anr

ANOOP CHITKARA, J. FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections 485 05.11.2024 Nissing, Dis.. Karnal 420, 120-B IPC

¶1The pettoner apprehending arrest in the FIR captoned above has come up before this Court under Secton 482 of Bharatya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking antcipatory bail.

¶2In paragraph 9 of the bail petton, the accused declares that he has no criminal antecedents.

¶3The facts of the case are being taken from the translated copy of FIR annexed with the bail petton as Annexure P-1, which reads as follows: "xxx To the Respected S.P. Sahab Ji, Karnal. Subject:- Applicaton for taking legal acton against accused No.1, Radha Devi Widow of Pasi Ram,

¶2Janu (Mobile Number 99960-xxxxx), 3-Gaurav, Sons of Late Pasi Ram son of Sh. Sube Singh and 4.Shekhar, 5.Sagar (Mobile Number 99966-

xxxxx), Sons of Shamsher Singh son of Sh. Sube Singh, residents of Village Ongad, Police Staton Nissing, District Karnal and 6.Halqa Patwari Lakhan Pal (Mobile Number: 98139-xxxxx) and Retred Patwari Rohtash (Mobile Number:98966-xxxxx) and 7.H.D.F.C. Bank Manager Branch Nissing Sh. Kapish (Mobile No: 93153-xxxxx for commi?ng fraud with the applicant in connivance with officers/officials. Sir, the applicant prays as under: 1.That order/judgment. 1 the applicant, Amir Singh son of Sh. Piara Singh, is resident of Village Budhanpur Veeran District Karnal and has faith in law. 2.That all the above said accused No. 1 to 5 are owners in possession of land measuring 37 Kanal 18 Marlas in Village Ongad, Tehsil and District Karnal and they got one agreement to sell prepared to sell the above said land for a sum of Rs. 1 Crore 37 Lacs 65 Thousands and the applicant purchased their land 37 Kanal 18 11 Marlas by giving the above said amount to the above said accused No.1 to 5 according to Waseeka No: 2609/1 Dated

13.06.2024 and the accused No. 1 to 4 told the applicant that out of the above said land measuring 37 Kanal 18 Marlas, the land of our share is kept under mortgage with Indian Bank, Nissing for a sum of Rs. 18 Lacs 50 Thousands and the accused No. 4 and 5 told that the land of our share out of the land measuring 37 Kanal 18 Marlas is also kept under mortgage with the above said bank for a sum of Rs. 18 Lacs 50 Thousands and the accused No. 1 to 5 got the loan cancelled by depositng the money in the bank out of the amount of the earnest money given in lieu of the land purchased by me and the above said accused No.1 to 5 gave assurance to me that except this, no other land of ourselves is kept under mortgage in any other bank and said that in spite of this, if any loan against this land is found, then the responsibility of making the payment of the same will be of ourselves. But, the above said accused No.1 to 5 had taken loan of Rs. 17 Lacs 10 Thousands against the above said land from H.D.F.C. Bank and in lieu of this, they had kept land measuring 59 Kanal under mortgage and out of this, the land measuring 37 Kanal 18 Marlas, sold to the applicant, was also included. That the accused No. 1 to 5, in connivance with accused No. 6 and 7 did not get the above said loan to be entered in Jamabandi and relying on the accused No. 1 to 5, I got the registry executed of the land measuring 37 Kanal 18 Marlas by giving the seDled amount. But, even aEer 10 days of the executon of the registry, officers of the bank and the accused No. 1 to 5 got the above said mortgage entered in the jamabandi by giving an applicaton to the Tehsildar, Karnal and got the intqal stopped to entered in our favour. It is worth mentoning that the above said land has been kept under mortgage from dated 31.08.2012 in favour of the H.D.F.C. Bank, but the accused No. 1 to 5, with the help of the accused No. 6 and 7 did not get the same to be entered in the intqal and as soon as the registry of the above said land measuring 37 Kanal 18 Marlas was executed in our favour, then they got the mortgage entered in JYOTI the Jamabandi aEer 12 years. From this, it seems that from the start itself, order/judgment. 2 the intenton of the accused No. 1 to 5 was to commit fraud and in additon to this, the accused No. 6 and 7 are fully involved in this and the accused persons, in spite of having knowledge that the above said land is kept under mortgage with the H.D.F.C. Bank in lieu of the sum of Rs. 17 Lacs 10 Thousands, but, they have made an agreement to sell with me with the intenton to commit fraud and all the accused persons usurped the amount by commi?ng fraud with the applicant. When the applicant requested to the above said accused No. 1 to 5 to deposit the amount of loan in the bank, then they flatly refused and said that aEer today, if you asked us to deposit the amount, then we will kill you. Therefore, it is prayed to your goodself that keeping the above said facts in view, strict legal acton may be taken against the above said accused persons and my life and property may be protected. Thanking you very much. Dated

06.08.2024. Sd/-in Punjabi, Applicant: Amir Singh son of Para Singh, resident of Village Budhanpur Veeran, District Karnal."

¶4The pettoner's counsel prays for bail by imposing any stringent conditons and contends that pre-trial incarceraton would cause an irreversible injustce to the pettoner and his family.

¶5The State's counsel opposes bail and refers to the status report.

¶6It would be appropriate to refer to the following portons of the status report, which read as follows: "8. That the role of the pettoner in this case is quite specific. The pettoner being a public servant and was posted as Patwari on

18.06.2017 in the revenue estate of the property in queston and therefore, entry was created by him. As per the Roznamcha entry No. 477 made in Jamabandi for the year 2014-15 prima-facie reflects clearance of loan from HDFC Bank. As per the record of Rapat No.477 does not belong to the property in queston. Therefore, his custodial interrogaton is required to find the truth, mode and manner of commission of offence and involvement of any other persons."

¶7Counsel for the complainant also opposes the bail. REASONING:

¶8Pre-trial incarceraton should not be a replica of post-convicton sentencing. The order/judgment. 3 evidence might be prima facie sufficient to launch prosecuton or to frame charges, but this Court is not considering the evidence at that stage but is analyzing it for the stage of antcipatory bail. An analysis of the above does not justfy custodial interrogaton or pre-trial incarceraton.

¶9Given the above, the penal provisions invoked coupled with the primafacie analysis of the nature of allegatons and the other factors peculiar to this case, there would be no justfiability for custodial interrogaton or the pre-trial incarceraton at this stage. Without commentng on the case's merits, in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, and for the reasons mentoned above, the pettoner makes a case for bail.

¶10The investgaton indicates that the pettoner is not the main accused, so the pettoner's bail shall not be treated as a precedent for grantng bail to the other co-accused with a higher role.

¶11Given above, provided the pettoner is not required in any other case, the pettoner shall be released on antcipatory bail in the FIR captoned above subject to furnishing bonds to the satsfacton of the Arrestng Officer, and if the ma.er is before a Court, then the concerned Court and due to unavailability before any nearest Ilaqa Magistrate/duty Magistrate. Before acceptng the surety, the concerned Officer/Court must be satsfied that if the accused fails to appear, such surety can produce the accused.

¶12While furnishing a personal bond, the pettoner shall menton the following personal identficaton details:

¶1AADHAR number

¶2Passport number (If available) and when the a.estng officer/court considers it appropriate or considers the accused a flight risk.

¶3Mobile number (If available)

¶4E-Mail id (If available)

¶13This order is subject to the pettoner's complying with the following terms.

¶14The pettoner is directed to join the investgaton within seven days of uploading this order on the official webpage of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and as and when called by the Investgator. The pettoner shall be in deemed custody for Secton 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872/ Secton 23 of BSA, 2023. The pettoner shall join the investgaton as and when called by the Investgatng Officer or any Superior Officer and shall cooperate with the investgaton at all further stages as required. In the event of failure to do so, the prosecuton will be open to seeking cancellaton of the bail. During the investgaton, the pettoner shall not be subjected to third-degree, indecentJYOTI order/judgment. 4 language, inhuman treatment, etc.

¶15The pettoner shall abide by all statutory bond conditons and appear before the concerned Court(s) on all dates. The pettoner shall not tamper with the evidence, influence, browbeat, pressurize, induce, threaten, or promise, directly or indirectly, any witnesses, Police officials, or any other person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case or dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Police or the Court.

¶16In case the Investgator/Officer-In-Charge of the concerned Police Staton arraigns another secton of any penal offense in this FIR, and if the new secton prescribes a maximum sentence that is not greater than the sectons mentoned above, then this bail order shall be deemed to have also been passed for the newly added secton(s). However, suppose the newly inserted sectons prescribe a sentence exceeding the maximum sentence prescribed in the sectons mentoned above; then, in that case, the Investgator/Officer-In-Charge shall give the pettoner notce of a minimum of seven days, providing an opportunity to avail the remedies available in law.

¶17This bail is conditonal, and the foundatonal conditon is that if the pettoner indulges in any non-bailable offense, the State may file an applicaton for cancellaton of this bail before the Sessions Court, which shall be at liberty to cancel this bail.

¶18The concerned trial court is authorized to delete, modify, or relax any of the above conditons and shall be competent to do so in accordance with the law.

¶19Any observaton made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments.

¶20A certfied copy of this order would not be needed for furnishing bonds, and any Advocate for the Pettoner can download this order along with case status from the official web page of this Court and a.est it to be a true copy. If the a.estng officer wants to verify its authentcity, such an officer can also verify its authentcity and may download and use the downloaded copy for a.estng bonds.

¶21Petition allowed in terms mentoned above. All pending applicatons, if any, stand disposed of. (ANOOP CHITKARA)

28.02.2025 JUDGE Jyot-II Whether reportable: No. order/judgment. 5

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on: 17.02.2025 Pronounced on: 28.02.2025 Rohtash Singh ...Pettoner Versus State of Haryana and another …Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. Pankaj Bali, Advocate for the pettoner. Mr. Aashish Bishnoi, DAG, Haryana. Mr. Manvender Chauhan, Advocate for respondent No.2. ****