9911796707
TMI Blog2016 (8) TMI 1603X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 rejected vide order dated 16.10.2015. 3. It is the further case of the petitioner that on 17.10.2015 petitioner appeared before the CBI for the purpose of interrogation but she was arrested on that day for the commission of the offences under Sections 120-B, 294, 341, 406, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 506, 34 of IPC read with Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. It is alleged, inter alia, that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... th 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" and thereafter got it telecast by Doordarshan. Not only this but also the petitioner got the sale proceed of the serial diverted to her personal account, to the account of her sister Preeti Bhatia and her husband Vikram Dewan. So, the CBI allegedly made out a prima facie case against her. CBI also claims that M/s. Candyfloss Media & Entertainment being the Company of the present petitioner and her sister, good amount of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... city 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. Since she is a woman having not received any money from A.T. Group of Companies but she is a Producer of the serial "Command Force" and involved in Film Industries where her absence is felt always, she should be released on bail with any condition as deemed fit and proper. 10. Per contra, Mr. A.K. Bose, learned Assistant Solicitor General of India submitted that the grounds of the bail taken by petitioner are a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ubmission 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 juncture. 14. Mr. Mishra, learned Counsel for the CBI submitted that in earlier occasion this Court have rejected the anticipatory bail of the present petitioner. Moreover, the bail application of co-accused Preeti Bhatia has been rejected by this Court and CBI relies upon such decisions of this Court. The present petitioner falsely projected her as Director of one M/s. Systematix Entertainment & Media Pvt. Ltd. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... panies. 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 another v. Prabhakar Rajaram Kharote and others that Court should avoid elaborate documentation of merits while dealing with an application for bail. While the court deal the application under Section 439 Cr.P.C. it cannot go to the details of the evidence to find out whether the evidence would be sufficient in establishing the real of the accused as it is not a relevant consideration at t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interests of the public/State and other similar considerations. It has also to be kept in mind that for the purpose of granting bail, the Legislature has used the words "reasonable grounds for believing" instead of "the evidence" which means the Court dealing with the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 the Community in the system to administer justice in an even handed manner without fear of criticism from the quarters which view white collar crimes with a permissive eye unmindful of the damage done to the national economy and national interest...." 24. While granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusations, the nature o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 tampering with the witness or apprehension of threat to the complainant, and prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge which are to be kept in mind". 23. It is 2015(13) SCALE 808; Gautam Kundu vs. Manoj Kumar, Assistant Director, Eastern Region, Directorate of Enforcement (Prevention of Money Launderin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ame 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 it as the grammar of life. No one would like to lose his liberty or barter it for all the wealth of the world. People from centuries have fought for liberty, for absence of liberty causes sense of emptiness. The sanctity of liberty is the fulcrum of any civilized society. It is a cardinal value on which the civil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... llected 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 Companies because of nature of scam and its inter-state ramifications with money trailing in which these Companies are indulged in. Their Lordships have also been pleased to observe that the scam of this magnitude going on for years unnoticed and unchecked, is suggestive of a deep rooted apathy if not criminal neg ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y 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 to the account of A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. in its HDFC Bank, Mumbai. But in January, 2013 the account of A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. in HDFC Bank was frozen. So, the present petitioner introducing falsely her as the Director of A.T. Food Mart Pvt. Ltd. requested the SBI at JVPD Branch, Mumbai to ope ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ned 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 falsely projected her as the Director of A.T. Group of Companies (M/s. Systematix Entertainment & Media Pvt. Ltd.) and opened the account at State Bank of India by forging the signatures of co-accused Pradeep Kumar Sethy & Jyotiprakash Joyprakash which is undoubtedly a serious offence on her p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
