Ravindra Wadhwa v. State of U.P. and Another

Court No. - 72 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 438 CR.P.C. No. - 10545 of 2022 Applicant :- Ravindra Wadhwa Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Sudeep Harkauli Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Kamlesh Kumar Dwivedi Hon'ble Krishan Pahal,J.

¶1List has been revised.

¶2Heard Sri Manish Tiwari, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Sudeep Harkauli, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Dhirendra Bahadur Singh, Advocate holding brief of Sri Kamlesh Kumar Dwivedi, learned counsel for the for the informant and learned A.G.A. for the State as well as perused the record.

¶3The present anticipatory bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant in Case Crime No.429 of 2016, registered under Sections 406, 420 I.P.C. at Police Station-Tajganj, District-Agra with a prayer to enlarge him on anticipatory bail.

¶4As per prosecution story, the applicant, who happens to be a builder, is stated to have built several houses on several plots mentioned in the FIR and had sold them for a consideration of Rs.82,92,000/- and Rs.41,32,000/-. There are allegations of having sold several shops and plots for consideration worth crores. It was agreed between the parties that the informant shall look after the matter and he shall be given 25% in the profit garnered through the said sales.

¶5Learned Senior Counsel for the applicant has stated that there is no written agreement between the applicant and the informant regarding the said share. The applicant is a bona fide person. Learned Senior Counsel has also placed reliance on Annexures-3 & 4 which are the exchange of letters between the parties leveling allegations and counter allegations against each other. All the allegations are vague and there is nothing on record to suggest that the informant was ever a partner with the applicant. The said letters also indicate towards it. The criminal history of three cases assigned to the applicant has been explained.

¶6Several other submissions have been made on behalf of the applicant to demonstrate the falsity of the allegations made against him. The circumstances which, as per counsel, led to the false implication of the applicant have also been touched upon at length. The applicant has apprehension of his arrest. Learned Senior counsel has stated that the applicant undertakes that he has co-operated in the investigation and is ready to do so in trial also failing which the State can move appropriate application for cancellation of anticipatory bail.

¶7Per contra, learned counsel for the informant and learned A.G.A. have vehemently opposed the anticipatory bail application but unable to dispute the submissions raised by the learned Senior Counsel for the applicant.

¶8On due consideration to the arguments advanced by learned counsels for the parties as well as learned A.G.A. and considering the nature of accusations and antecedents of the applicant, the applicant is liable to be enlarged on anticipatory bail in view of the judgment of Supreme Court in the case of "Sushila Aggarwal Vs. State (NCT of Delhi), (2020) 5 SCC 1". The future contingencies regarding the anticipatory bail being granted to applicant shall also be taken care of as per the aforesaid judgment of the Apex Court.

¶9In view of the above, the anticipatory bail application of the applicant is allowed. Let the accused-applicant-Ravindra Wadhwa be released forthwith in the aforesaid case crime (supra) on anticipatory bail till the conclusion of trial on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:-

(i). that the applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by a police officer as and when required;

(ii). that the applicant shall not, directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence;

(iii). that the applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the court;

(iv). that in case charge-sheet is submitted the applicant shall not tamper with the evidence during the trial;

(v). that the applicant shall not pressurize/ intimidate the prosecution witness;

(vi). that the applicant shall appear before the trial court on each date fixed unless personal presence is exempted;

(vii). that in case of breach of any of the above conditions the court concerned shall have the liberty to cancel the bail.

¶10It is made clear that observations made hereinabove are exclusively for deciding the instant anticipatory bail application and shall not affect the trial. Order Date :- 22.11.2023 Vikas [Krishan Pahal, J.] High Court of Judicature at Allahabad