The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 27) granted bail to a man accused of forgery and cheating, who had been in custody since May 4, 2023, noting that the charges had not been framed yet and he had been either acquitted or the case against him had been quashed in nine out of fourteen antecedents against him.
After dictating the order, Justice Oka orally remarked, “Very unfortunate that now people are not getting bail even in magistrate triable cases, very unfortunate. And people have to come to the Supreme Court for this.”
The Gujarat High Court had dismissed a successive bail application filed by the appellant in a case registered at the Jadar Police Station, District Sabarkantha, for offenses under Sections 406, 419, 465, 467, 468, 471, and 114 of the IPC. Thus, he filed the present appeal in the Supreme Court.
A bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih while allowing is appeal observed –
“After 22nd November 2023 there is no progress in the trial, even charge has not been framed. Antecedents of the appellant are pressed into service. Out of 14 cases we find that in 9 cases either he has been acquitted or the offence has been quashed. It is not in dispute that the case is a magistrate triable case. In our view the High Court ought to have granted bail. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed.”
During the hearing, the advocate for the appellant submitted that all co-accused had been granted bail and that the appellant had been in custody for over a year.
Justice Oka remarked, “It is a magistrate triable case, how can he remain in custody?”
The counsel for the State of Gujarat responded, “He is a habitual offender. He will come out and do it again. All offences against him are cheating, forgery, and fraud.”
However, Justice Oka noted that while denying bail, the Gujarat High Court had not individually examined the FIRs cited by the prosecution as antecedents. He noted that out of 14 cases against the appellant, he had been acquitted in seven cases, and two cases were quashed.
The Court noted that the appellant had been in custody for over a year and three months. On November 22, 2023, the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the appellant against the order rejecting bail was not entertained by the Supreme Court, with the observation that no case was made out for granting bail at that stage. However, there has been no progress in the trial since then, the Court noted.
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and ordered that the appellant be produced before the trial court within one week. The trial court was directed to release the appellant on bail on appropriate terms and conditions.
According to the FIR, the complainant discovered unauthorized mutation entries regarding the lifting of a charge over his land. Allegedly, the appellant who is the complainant’s son, had orchestrated the sale of the land using forged documents. The sale deed was executed in another person’s name, and the land was sold for a consideration of Rs. 1,07,00,000. The appellant was arrested on May 4, 2023, and had remained in custody since then.
The HC had previously rejected the appellant’s bail application, noting the appellant’s numerous antecedents, which included cases of cheating, producing fraudulent documents, blackmailing, siphoning off amounts, creating obscene video clips, offenses under the Arms Act, rape, and dowry-related offenses. The HC concluded that there were no new circumstances that warranted granting bail, especially considering the serious nature of the allegations against the appellant.
Case no. – Crl.A. No. 3525 / 2024
Case Title – Abdulmajid Abdulsattar Memon v. State of Gujarat
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