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TMI Blog2016 (8) TMI 1603X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Hon'ble Apex Court cannot be lost sight of. It is the allegation of the CBI that present petitioner having made conspiracy with principal accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy diversified the funds from A.T. Group of Companies to the fund of M/s. Systematix Entertainment Media Pvt. Ltd. which later converted to A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. Subsequently money was siphoned off to her, her sister and her husband's personal account. The CBI produced the copies of the statements recorded and documents seized in support of their contentions. It appears that crores of rupees have been collected by A.T. Group of Companies from the gullible investors with the assurance to return the money with double interest and to allot the plots in their favour. But the poor people neither got back their invested money nor got any plot. From the statements of witnesses filed before this Court, it is clear that the present petitioner being authorized signatory of M/s. A.T. Food Mart Ltd. in conspiracy with the principal accused person Pradeep Kumar Sethy transferred the account from such A.T. Group of Companies to produce serial Command Force and proceeds of such serials have been siphoned off through A.T. Food ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... le Apex Court in (2012) 5 SCC 690; Rashmi Rekha Thatoi and another v. State of Orissa and others. Thus, the liberty is a call of the day, without which life is meaningless. At the same time sky has limit and the liberty can be also scaled out by parameters. This is an application under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. filed by the petitioner read with Section 437(1) of Cr.P.C. to grant bail to her as her bail has been refused by the learned Sessions Judge, Khurda in Bail Application No. 1588 of 2015. FACTS 2. The factual matrix leading to the case of the petitioner is that she being a woman was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter called 'CBI') to produce certain documents before the CBI on 12.8.2015 at Bhubaneswar in connection with S.P.E. No. 42 of 2014. Petitioner appeared and furnished documents. Thereafter she was further summoned under Section 41 of Cr.P.C. to appear before the CBI. She co-operated the investigation by obeying their notices and submission of documents before the CBI for fruitful investigation. However, she also filed one anticipatory bail before this Court vide Anticipatory Bail Application No. 14208 of 2015 and after hearing it was reje ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ced a serial Command Force under self finance scheme and it was proposed to Doordarshan to telecast same. In the proposal present petitioner has submitted undertaking stating that she was the Director of M/s. Systematix Entertainment Media Pvt. Ltd. although she was never a Director of the said Company. After telecast of 52 episodes, an amount of Rs. 3,56,74,940/- was sanctioned for payment. At first the money was received with an amount of Rs. 2,25,60,881/- in the HDFC Bank, the banker of M/s. Systematix Entertainment Media Pvt. Ltd. from Doordarshan and the present petitioner being the authorized signatory diverted the total amount of Rs. 73,67,000/- out of such money to her personal account and the account of her husband Vikram Dewan by issuing cheques. Balance of Rs. 1,23,99,580/- received from Doordarshan was paid to A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. It is also stated that further Rs. 82,30,000/- was illegally diverted to the personal account of the petitioner and her husband. It is alleged that present petitioner being in conspiracy with principal accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy diverted the money from the A.T. Group collected from the gullible depositors and made the serial Command Force ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as deemed fit and proper. 9. Mr. Das, learned Senior Advocate stated that in the meantime charge-sheet has already been submitted and in the charge-sheet the allegations were mainly against Preeti Bhatia and Vikram Dewan, the husband of the petitioner and there was no any money transaction between the present petitioner and her husband. There was no serious allegation against the present petitioner towards complicity with commission of offence in the charge-sheet. Apart from this, it is alleged that the petitioner's husband is a Pilot and her elder child appeared in the Class-X ICSE Examination while petitioner is in custody. Due to her absence in the family there is irreparable loss to the daughter and husband. She has also taken the plea that her parents are very old and her younger sister is handicapped. On such humanitarian point of view lenient view should be taken against her. It is also stated that petitioner is also suffering from back pain and mental pressure and in fact the offences alleged are not made out prima facie because of the fact that money received in the business of the petitioner from Door Darshan is not the money trailed from M/s. A.T. Group of Companies. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l account of Preeti Bhatia and present petitioner. So, the master mind of the entire conspiracy of cheating, money trailing, forgery is the present petitioner. He submitted that the interim bail granted by Hon'ble Apex Court to Preeti Bhatia is on a separate footing but the case of present petitioner should not be decided on the same footing because the role of the present petitioner is vicious and the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner in this regard should not be accepted by the Court. 13. Mr. Mishra, learned Counsel for the CBI further submitted that the cases being of economic offence have been taken up seriously by the Hon'ble Apex Court and for that CBI has been entrusted to investigate the case. Although charge-sheet has been submitted but the investigation is kept open by the CBI. After submission of charge-sheet, the CBI has also prepared the copies and ready to commence the trial. As soon as P.O. joins the trial of the case would commence. Since the investigation is open and there is necessity for interrogation of the present petitioner, with further accused to be apprehended, the CBI strongly objects the release of the petitioner at this junctur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f her sister Preeti Bhatia and to the account of partnership firm, namely, M/s. Candyfloss Media Entertainment floated by the present petitioner and her sister Preeti Bhatia who is co-accused in this case. So, in sum and substance submitted by the CBI that the present petitioner having major role in diversification of the fund to her firm, her and to her relatives from A.T. Group of Companies. He submitted that the money collected by A.T. Group from the gullible depositors have been very diligently siphoned off or trailed to different Companies at the instance of principal accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy and other accused persons including the present petitioner. According to him, the conspiracy of cheating, forgery, criminal misappropriation and money trailing are prima facie made out against the present petitioner for which the bail of the present petitioner should be refused. He submitted that further investigation kept open would be ineffective if bail is granted to the present petitioner. DISCUSSIONS ON LAW ON REGULAR BAIL 16. Before going to discuss on materials, it is pertinent to discuss on principles of law on regular bail. It is 1980 CRI. L.J. 426 SC; Niranjan Singh and anoth ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pering with the witnesses by the accused during the period he was on bail. xxx xxx xxx 24. This Court in Amarmani Tripathi had held that while considering the application for bail, what is required to be looked is, (i) whether there is any prima facie or reasonable ground to believe that the accused had committed the offence; (ii) nature and gravity of the charge; (iii) severity of the punishment in the event of conviction; (iv) danger of accused absconding or fleeing if released on bail; (v) character, behaviour, means, position and standing of the accused; (vi) likelihood of the offence being repeated; (vii) reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with; and (viii) danger, of course, of justice being thwarted by grant of bail . 19. It is also (2013) 7 SCC 452; Central Bureau of Investigation v. V. Vijay Sai Reddy where Their Lordships observed at para-34: 34. While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y on its own merits without being influenced by dismissal of the present appeal . 21. It is (2013) 7 SCC 466; Nimmagadda Prasad v. Central Bureau of Investigation where Their Lordships observed at paragraphs-23, 24 and 25: 23. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the country has been seeing an alarming rise in white-collar crimes, which has affected the fiber of the country's economic structure. Incontrovertibly, economic offences have serious repercussions on the development of the country as a whole. In State of Gujarat v. Mohanlal Jitamalji Porwal; (1987) 2 SCC 364 this Court, while considering a request of the prosecution for adducing additional evidence, inter alia, observed as under: (SCC p. 371, para 5) 5. ...The entire community is aggrieved if the economic offenders who ruin the economy of the State are not brought to book. A murder may be committed in the heat of moment upon passions being aroused. An economic offence is committed with cool calculation and deliberate design with an eye on personal profit regardless of the consequence to the Community. A disregard for the interest of the Community can be manifested only at the cost of forfeiting the trust and faith of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ile granting bail the court has to keep in mind not only the nature of the accusations, but the severity of the punishment, if the accusation entails a conviction and the nature of evidence in support of the accusations. (b) Reasonable apprehensions of the witnesses being tampered with or the apprehension of there being a threat for the complainant should also weigh with the court in the matter of grant of bail. (c) While it is not expected to have the entire evidence establishing the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt but there ought always to be a prima facie satisfaction of the court in support of the charge. (d) Frivolity in prosecution should always be considered and it is only the element of genuineness that shall have to be considered in the matter of grant of bail, and in the event of there being some doubt as to the genuineness of the prosecution, in the normal course of events, the accused is entitled to an order of bail. 10. In Chaman Lal V. State of U.P.; (2004) 7 SCC 525, the Court has laid down certain factors, namely, the nature of accusation, severity of punishment in case of conviction and the character of supporting evidence, reasonable apprehension of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for bail of the appellant should be seen at this stage while the appellant is involved in the economic offence, in general, and for the offence punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA, in particular. 24. From the foregoing discussions, it is clear that consideration of bail in economic offences should not be in the same footing as of other offences. Moreover, the parameters of the bail as contained in the decision of Neeru Yadav (supra) are the guiding force to consider the bail application under Section 439 Cr.P.C. In the series of cases by CBI where the magnitude of the economic loss to the society and the individual have no magnitude but indefinite. The Court should be cautious in granting bail. It is true that liberty of a person must be visualized where the concept of bail is discussed. In this regard, the observation of the Hon'ble Apex Court cannot be lost sight of. It is reported in Neeru Yadav (supra) at para-16:- 16. xxx We are not oblivious of the fact that the liberty is a priceless treasure for a human being. It is founded on the bed rock of constitutional right and accentuated further on human rights principle. It is basically a natural right. In fact, some regard ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (Civil) No. 401 of 2013; Subrata Chattoraj Vs. Union of India and others and Writ Petition (Civil) No. 413 of 2013; Alok Jena Vs. Union of India others. Their Lordships while considering about the role of different chit fund Companies were pleased to observe that there are several diversification of funds collected from the poor investors by the chit fund Companies in the State of Orissa, West Bengal and Tripura. In para-28 of that order it has been observed about the Case No. 44 dated 7.2.2013 under the provision of Sections 420/120-B of I.P.C. read with Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 against M/s. Artha Tatwa Group of Companies and at para-34 Their Lordships directed the CBI to conduct further investigation into such cases against 44 Companies including the A.T. Group of Companies in spite of the investigation made by the State Police. It is the contention of the learned counsel for the CBI that by virtue of the order of the Hon'ble Apex Court the CBI entered into the investigation of cases against the A.T. Group of Companies. There is specific direction in the said order that CBI has to investigate against those Compa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ention that A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. is a sister concern of A.T. Group and money collected under A.T. Group has been maintained in A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. as revealed from materials. It is clear that between 4.5.2012 to 4.1.2013 Rs. 2,25,60,881/- has been transmitted to A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. Not only this but also from A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. Rs. 30,85,000/- has been transferred between 15.6.2012 to 9.11.2012 to the account of the petitioner. Moreover, Rs. 17 lakhs has been credited to the account of her husband Vikram Dewan. 29. It is also revealed from the statements of Mukul Verma, Chandan Kumar Das, Deepnarayan Singh and Madhukar Balaram Rohekar that on 27.7.2010 M/s. Systematix Entertainment Media Pvt. Ltd. made proposal to Doordarshan through petitioner who falsely projected her as Director of the said Company for telecast of serial Command Force and in 2011 due to change of name of such Company to M/s. Artha Tatwa Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. agreement was executed between Prasar Bharati and present petitioner who represented A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. and serial was telecast by Doordarshan. The money towards telecast of serial Command Force were received from Doordarshan in 2012 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... said case law discussed, in economic offences the Court cannot sit as a silent spectator but must rise to the occasion to consider the effect of such offence upon the society. Since the present petitioner is actively involved in economic offences as delineated above, the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that her involvement is not well conceived, is untenable. 31. As it appears from the foregoing discussion, it cannot be said that there is no prima facie case or reasonable ground to believe that the petitioner had committed the offence. Besides that the offences prima facie found have been against her has got gravity because these are economic offences and having got deep routed consequence upon the society and people at large. In the event of conviction, there can be severity of punishment. It also appears that the petitioner has got passport and living at Mumbai for which absconding of petitioner in the event of release on bail cannot be ruled out. 32. From the discussion on the materials, it is revealed that the petitioner being the authorized signatory of A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. has trailed the money to her personal account and other account and also has fa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hand, learned counsel for the CBI submitted that as soon as the Presiding Officer joins they are ready with the trial to commence. When the investigation is kept open by the CBI, the question of pendency of the trial on the ground of non-joining of Presiding Officer does not arise. Consequently, question of grant of bail due to pendency of case without heading for trial is also out of reach. However, when investigation is kept open, there is chance of tampering the prosecution witnesses as submitted by the learned counsel for CBI, no lenient view can be taken to release the petitioner on bail. Moreover, the plea of the petitioner on the ground of self illness, illness of her mother or personal difficulty of her husband or her daughter will not improve her case as they are not well evident from materials. CONCLUSION 35. In toto this Court is of the opinion that for the larger interest of the public and society, the petitioner in such economic offences of serious consequences deserves no sympathy. Even if she is a woman claiming benefit of gender justice but she claims to be film producer and her conduct showing serious thwart to society, this Court is loath to consider her case for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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