The Supreme Court has dismissed a special leave petition filed challenging the filing of a common charge sheet by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in two FIRs related to alleged illegal land grabbing through fake sale deeds. The Court found no merit in the contention that the CBI could not have filed a joint charge sheet since the petitioner had been charge-sheeted only in one of the two FIRs.
A Bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B. Varale noted that while two FIRs had been lodged concerning the same land scam, the petitioner was arrayed as an accused only in the second FIR. Observing that she was not implicated in the first FIR, the Court held that it was not a fit case for the exercise of its discretionary powers under Article 136 of the Constitution, and accordingly dismissed the special leave petition.
In a connected plea, the Bench granted bail to a 72-year-old co-accused, who had been in custody since December 2023. The Court took note that all 16 other co-accused had already been released on bail, that the charge sheet was filed nearly ten months ago, and that charges had yet to be framed despite 95 witnesses being cited indicating that the trial would take considerable time to conclude.
Directing his release on bail, the Court imposed standard conditions, including the surrender of his passport within a week of release before the trial court.
The Bench also expunged an observation in the Uttarakhand High Court’s impugned order which had unnecessarily mentioned the name of the lawyer conducting the case, holding that there was no necessity of mentioning the name of the counsel.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Siddharth Luthra, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Sanjeev Agarwal, AOR; Mr. Ekansh Agarwal, Adv.; Mr. Subhash Chandra, Adv.
Mr. Mahesh Jethmalani, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Dave, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Sahil Modi, Adv.
Ms. Harshita Gupta, Adv.; Mr. Abhimanshu Dhyani, Adv.; Mr. Subhash Chandra, Adv.; Ms. Jasmine Damkewala, AOR
Mr. Siddharth Luthra, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Dave, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Sahil Modi, Adv.; Ms. Harshita Gupta, Adv.; Mr. Abhimanshu Dhyani, Adv.; Mr. Subhash Chandra, Adv.; Ms. Jasmine Damkewala, AOR
Respondents: Mr. Suryaprakash V Raju, A.S.G.; Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR;Mr. Annam Venkatesh, Adv.; Mr. Padmesh Mishra, Adv.;Mrs. Meera Patel, Adv.; Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Adv.; Mr. Hitarth Raja, Adv.
Mr. Sanjeev Agarwal, AOR; Mr. Ekansh Agarwal, Adv.; Mr. Subhash Chandra, Adv.
Mr. Abhinay, AOR
Ms. Kirti Vyas, Adv.; Mr. Pranav Gupta, AOR; Mr. Abhishek Dash, Adv.; Mr. Kunal Awana, Adv.
Mr. Dheeraj P Deo, AOR
Mr. Jitender Chaudhary, Adv.; Ms. Shilpa Chohan, Adv.; Mr. R. C. Kohli, AOR
