9911796707
TMI Blog2023 (10) TMI 1255X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the right to liberty and access to speedy justice and trial enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and right to liberty of bail under Section 436-A Cr.P.C. It is provided that the accused petitioner namely, Mohet Hojai shall be released on bail of Rs.50,000/- with 02 sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge, Assam, Guwahati, subject to the conditions imposed - application allowed. - HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AJIT BORTHAKUR FOR THE PETITIONER : MR P CHOUDHURY FOR THE RESPONDENT : SC, ED ORDER Heard Mr. D. Talukdar, learned counsel for the accused petitioner. Also heard Ms. A. Gayan, learned Standing Counsel, Enforcement Directorate. 2. By this petition under Section 439 Cr.P.C., the accused petitioner, namely Mohet Hojai has prayed for grant of bail in connection with Special PMLA Case No.03/2018 under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 pending in the Court of learned Special Judge, Assam, Guwahati. 3. The scanned copy of order sheets of Special PMLA Case No.03/2018, as called for by order, dated 15.09.2023, is received. 4. An affidavit-in-opposition is filed by the respon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d petitioner. 7. The allegation against the accused petitioner are that during the year 2008 the present accused petitioner, the then CEM, N.C. Hills Autonomous Council entered into a criminal conspiracy with one R.H. Khan, the then Deputy Director, Social Welfare Department, Haflong and others and misappropriated huge funds of Social Welfare Department. The said R.H. Khan awarded supply orders worth lakhs of rupees, but no supply was made and Rs.13.5 Crores was directly siphoned from the bank account of Social Welfare Department since 2008-09. Accordingly, Special PMLA Case No.03/2018 was registered. 8. A perusal of the case record reveals that this Court by an order, dated 20.06.2022, passed in B.A. No. 785/2022 granted interim bail to the accused petitioner. In Para No.12 of the instant Bail Application it is averred that as the clearance from the Govt. of Assam could not be obtained during the limited period, as such, the accused/petitioner could not avail the benefit of the order passed by this Court. 9. The above referred interim order reads as extracted hereinbelow- Date-20.06.2022 Heard Mr. D Talukdar, learned counsel for the accused petitioner. Also hea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e. 8. Ms. Gayan referred to the mandatory rigors contained in Section 45 which is strengthened by Sections 65 and 71 of the PMLA in the matter of granting bail. Therefore, Ms. Gayan, learned Standing Counsel strenuously submits that considering the prima facie nature and seriousness of the materials and other factors including involvement of great public interest etc. in this case the bail application of the accused may be rejected. 9. I have given due consideration to the above submissions made by the learned counsel of both sides and perused records. 10. The prosecution case, in brief, is that the CBI, Anti Corruption Branch, Shillong registered a Criminal Case vide FIR Case No. RCSHG 2010 A 0003 dated 13.05.2010 under Section 120B, 409, 420, 471 of IPC Act and Section 13 (2) r/w 13 (1) ( c) (d) of PC Act against Shri Mohet Hojai, the then Chief Executive Member, North Cachar Hills Council, Assam, Shri RH Khan employee of Social Welfare Department, NC Hills, Assam, Shri Debashish Bhattacharjee, Proprietor of M/s MAA Trading, Loknath and M/s Jeet Enterprise others during the year 2008 and entered into a criminal conspiracy among themselves and siphoned an amo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ses; (vi) reasonable possibility of presence of accused not being secured during trial and (vii) similar other considerations which may arise when a Court is asked to admit accused on bail in non-bailable offences. 16. As per the certificate dated 21.03.2022 issued by the Superintendent, Central Jail, Guwahati vide Annexure V, the accused has been in judicial custody since 21.04.2018, that is, for 4 years 1 month 30 days in connection with the instant case, which is at appearance stage before consideration of charges. 17. Undoubtedly, the instant case is of serious nature of economic offence involving a large interest of the State. However, in view of pendency of the instant case, he has been deprived of the benefit of annual leave entitlement during the continuation of serving out the life imprisonment awarded against him and others in connection with Special NIA Case No.01/2009. 18. On the other hand as stated a above, there is also no commencement of trial of the case, as stated above, due to grant of stay of its further proceeding and non-appearance of the coaccused persons in the case. 19. Therefore, in the absence of certainty in commencement of trial ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eme Court Legal Aid Committee (Representing Undertrial Prisoners) v. Union of India [Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee (Representing Undertrial Prisoners) v. Union of India, (1994) 6 SCC 731, para 15 : 1995 SCC (Cri) 39] , it was held that undertrials cannot indefinitely be detained pending trial. Ideally, no person ought to suffer adverse consequences of his acts unless the same is established before a neutral arbiter. However, owing to the practicalities of real life where to secure an effective trial and to ameliorate the risk to society in case a potential criminal is left at large pending trial, the courts are tasked with deciding whether an individual ought to be released pending trial or not. Once it is obvious that a timely trial would not be possible and the accused has suffered incarceration for a significant period of time, the courts would ordinarily be obligated to enlarge them on bail. 12. In Para Nos. 63 and 64 of the judgment rendered in Satender Kumar Antil (supra), the Hon ble Apex Court held- 63. Section 436-A of the Code has been inserted by Act 25 of 2005. This provision has got a laudable object behind it, particularly from the point of view of gran ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt specified for the offences. Thus, it appears that the accused has been deprived of the right to liberty and access to speedy justice and trial enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and right to liberty of bail under Section 436-A Cr.P.C. 14. For the above stated reasons, it is provided that the accused petitioner namely, Mohet Hojai shall be released on bail of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand) with 02(two) sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge, Assam, Guwahati, subject to the following conditions - i) That the accused petitioner shall continue to appear before the learned trial Court on all dates to be fixed from time to time till the case is disposed of; ii) That the accused petitioner 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; iii) That out of the two sureties, one must be a government servant subject to verification of the relevant documents, if deemed necessary and after such verification, the learned Court below shall return the original documents retaining legible ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
