In a criminal appeal filed before the Supreme Court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a First Information Report (FIR) registered for offences punishable under Sections 414, 413, 420, 120-B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), and Sections 61(2) and 132(1)(b) of the Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, a Bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Prasanna B. Varale granted anticipatory bail to the appellant.
The prosecution asserted that, upon intercepting a truck carrying vehicle scraps, it was found that the vehicle scraps were stolen and that the documents tendered for inspection were also forged. It was submitted that the purchaser, the vehicle-owner, and the driver had already been enlarged on bail at different stages.
The Court stated that although earlier, the appellant had filed bail applications, which were later withdrawn, and there was no change in the circumstances, it was inclined to exercise its discretionary power by granting relief to the appellant, particularly since the appellant had appeared before the Investigating Officer and cooperated with the investigation.
Regarding forged documents, the Court stated that any opinion would prejudice the appellant’s rights and that this was an issue to be dealt with during the trial. Thus, the Court directed the grant of anticipatory bail to the appellant by the jurisdictional IO, subject to conditions deemed fit, including the condition for his appearance before the trial court on all dates of hearing except when exempted, and to cooperate with the IO.
Appearances:
For Appellant – Ms. Pallavi Pratap (AOR), Ms. Yashvi Aswani, Mr. K.M. Singh, Mr. Avanish Prakhar, Mr. Amjid Maqbool
For Respondents – Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dwivedi, Mr. Shantanu Sagar (AOR), Mr. Anil Kumar, Mr. Gunjesh Ranjan, Mr. Manoneet Dwivedi, Ms. Anshala Verma
