Full Order Text
Final Order 9 · 21 Dec 2024 · CNR DLCT110009632024
Order Details: COPY OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS Pdf Text: IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL JUDGE (PC ACT) (ACB)-02, ROUSE AVENUE DISTRICT COURTS, NEW DELHI Presided Over by: Ashish Aggarwal, DHJS Bail Application No.223/2024 and IA No(s). 3/2024, 8/2024 and 9/2024 State v Vishal Kumar, Surjeet Singh, Raj Singh and Narender Kumar Saini FIR No.5/2023 PS Anti-Corruption Branch 21.12.2024 File is taken up today on an application under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 filed by accused Vishal Kumar and three applications under Section 483 of Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 filed by accused persons Surjeet Singh, Raj Singh and Narender Kumar Saini. Present : Sh. Manoj Kumar Garg, Ld. Public Prosecutor for State. 1. The applications for bail filed by accused persons Vishal Kumar, Surjeet Singh, Raj Singh and Narender Kumar Saini are proposed to be decided by this common order. 2. The submissions advanced by Ld. Counsels for accused persons Raj Singh and Narender Kumar Saini are set forth, briefly, as follows: (a) that co-accused Mukesh Kumar Saini has been granted bail by order dated 18.12.2024; (b) that the role of the applicants is identical to that alleged against accused Mukesh Kumar Saini; -- 1 of 17 -- (c) that the order of taking cognizance has been stayed by order dated 10.12.2024 passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi and the custody of the applicants now is illegal; (d) that the amount received as GST refund by the firms allegedly controlled by the applicants and their relatives is stated in the charge- sheet to be only Rs.3,64,78,818/- as against the sum of Rs.35.61 Crores which is stated to be sanctioned in all; (e) that the charge-sheet shows that statements of numerous drivers and transporters were recorded by the investigating officer but they do not name the applicants; (f) that the reasons of arrest spelled out in the arrest memo mentions about applicant Raj Singh being involved in bribing the GST officer but the investigation does not show any such act done by the accused; (g) that the charge-sheet mentions about recovery of several incriminating documents from the possession of one Ravi Mehra who was employee of Tarun Verma but no action at all has been taken against the said persons which shows that the investigating officer is patronizing the said persons; (h) that the charge-sheet shows that the statements of Ashwani Kumar Pandey and Akhilesh Kumar Pandey were recorded who state that they simply followed instructions and aided the commission of the offence, yet the said persons have not been made an accused; -- 2 of 17 -- (i) that the charge-sheet makes mention of 96 firms which had already obtained GST refund from the same GST officer but the applicants are not owners or authorized signatory of the firms; (j) that no action has been taken against the owners or authorized signatory of the firms; (k) that the name of applicant Raj Singh does not figure in the list of persons who did not file their income tax returns; (l) that the charge-sheet also shows that thirty-four mobile phone numbers have been used by bogus firms but the name of the applicants did not figure in the CAF of any of the mobile phone numbers; (m) that as per charge-sheet, scrutiny of bank account statements revealed that GST refund was routed to the offenders through bogus firms and it eventually landed into their accounts and that of their family members but even after the said scrutiny, the applicants were not found to be among the ultimate beneficiaries of the said money since the outgoing funds in the accounts were more than the incoming funds and the persons to whom the said funds came to be transferred were not proceeded against by the investigating officer; (n) that the applicants cooperated in investigation and had joined investigation as and when called by the investigating officer; -- 3 of 17 -- (o) that the investigating officer has left out certain individuals and entities whose involvement is writ large from the record for reasons best known to him; (p) that the mala fide conduct of the investigating officer raises serious questions regarding his bias towards certain entities which need to be looked into by the Court; (q) that this Court needs to take cognizance of the fact that the investigating officer has chosen to let off certain individuals and entities who were similarly replaced and who are directly connected with the same transactions; (r) that out of the GST refund of Rs.36 Crores which was allegedly wrongfully sanctioned, the role of the applicants and their relatives has been alleged to be of about Rs.3.64 crores whereas there is no investigation about the individuals and entities who were involved in taking refund of the remaining sum of about Rs.33 crores; (s) that the investigating officer has proceeded in a mala fide manner and this is also a ground for bail as per judgments reported as Binoy Jacob v CBI 1993 SCC OnLine Del 53, R. Vasudevan v CBI, Bail Appl No.2381/2009 dated 14.01.2010, Ramesh Manglani v Directorate of Enforcement, Bail Application No.3611/2022 dated 30.05.2023, Dr. Bindu Rana v SFIO 2023 SCC OnLine Del 276 and State of Madhya Pradesh v Sheetla Sahai & Ors. (2009) 8 SCC 617; -- 4 of 17 -- (t) that the prosecuting agency has not arrested or interrogated the direct beneficiaries whose involvement is revealed in the FIR and the charge- sheet; (u) that there is nothing to show the alleged demand and acceptance of illegal gratification as required by Sections 7 and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as also laid down in the case of Neeraj Dutta v State (2023) 4 SCC 731; (v) that the case against the applicants is based on disclosure statement of co-accused persons and the same is inadmissible in evidence as per the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Haricharan Kurmi v State of Bihar (1964) 6 SCR 623; (w) that it is not open to the investigating agency to, of its own, discharge an accused person whose involvement is disclosed by the facts, and to use his statement against co-accused persons as has been done in this case; (x) that Section 467 of IPC has been added by the investigating officer only to increase the gravity of the offence even though it is not made out from the facts of the case; (y) that disclosure statements cannot be the sole basis of continued incarceration of the applicants; (z) that the applicants are respectable citizens with deep roots in society; (aa)that the applicants are not a flight risk; -- 5 of 17 -- (ab) that the case of the prosecution is based on documents which have already been seized by the investigating officer; (ac) that the applicants cannot be kept in custody as a punitive measure; (ad) that the applicants satisfy the triple test laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of P. Chidambaram v Directorate of Enforcement (2019) 9 SCC 24. (ae) that there are 191 witnesses and voluminous documents running into thousands of pages and the trial is not likely to be completed any time soon; (af) that in the circumstances, the applicants have to be released on bail in view of the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Manish Sisodia v Directorate of Enforcement 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1920; (ag) that the Court has no basis for inferring that the applicants will influence witnesses in view of the decisions of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the cases of Sanjay Chandra v CBI (2012) 1 SCC 40 and P. Chidambaram v Directorate of Enforcement (2019) 9 SCC 24; (ah) that the charge-sheet shows that physical verification was done at the addresses of certain firms that had taken undue GST refund but the addresses were found to be incorrect, yet no action has been taken against the owners/controllers of the said firms; (ai)no action has been taken against one Mr. Vipin Kumar Singh whose involvement is disclosed in the charge-sheet itself; -- 6 of 17 -- (aj)that the identity of the forger regarding the document mentioned in page 91 of the charge-sheet has not been disclosed; (ak) that no action has been taken by the investigating officer against Rameshwar Kumar, Raj Kumar, Sameer and several other persons who were directly involved in commission of offences as per the charge-sheet itself; (al)that in the list mentioned on pages 191 and 192 of the charge-sheet, persons who gave incorrect addresses in order to commit these offences have been named and no action has been taken against the persons except accused Hanzala and Intazar; (am) that rent agreement and partnership deed which are alleged to have been forged were duly notarized but the investigating officer has not examined the notary to know if the documents were forged; (an) that the previous application for bail of the applicants had been dismissed on 29.11.2024; (ao) that there is a material change in circumstances after dismissal of previous applications because: i. a co-accused person having similar role has been released on bail; ii. the order of cognizance has been stayed after dismissal of the previous bail application rendering the custody of the applicant illegal and entitling the applicant to be immediately released on bail. -- 7 of 17 -- iii. the investigating officer has been persisting in discriminatory treatment by avoiding to arrest or indict persons whose involvement has surfaced; iv. as held in the case of Kanchaman Yonjan v State (2024) SCC OnLine Del 4734, each day spent in custody provides a new cause of action to seek bail; v. owing to the further investigation being carried out and orders passed by different Courts there is a stalemate reached due to which neither trial can proceed nor investigation is making progress. 3. Ld. counsel for the said applicants has relied upon judgments reported as Kanchaman Yonjan v State (2024) SCC OnLine Del 4734, Vishnu Ram Chandra Maheshwari v State of M.P. (1999) 1 MPLJ 516; Banu Singh v Emperor (1906) ILR 33 CAL 1353, Laxmandas Chaganlal Bhatia & Ors. v State (1966) SCC OnLine BOM 17, Laxmipat Choraria & Ors. v State of Maharashtra AIR 1968 SC 938, Malvinder Mohan Singh v State of NCT of Delhi (2023) SCC OnLine Del 3487, Haricharan Kurmi v State of Bihar (1964) 6 SCR 623, Sheila Sebastian V. R. Jawaharaj & Anr. (2018) 7 SCC 581, Babu Singh & Ors. V State of U. P. (1978) 1 SCC 579, Neeraj Dutta v State (2023) 4 SCC 731, Manish Sisodia v Directorate of Enforcement 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1920, Ramesh Manglani v Directorate of Enforcement, Bail Application No.3611/2022 dated 30.05.2023, Chandra Prakash Khandelwal v Directorate -- 8 of 17 -- of Enforcement Bail Application No.2470/2022 dated 23.2.2023 and P. Chidambaram v Directorate of Enforcement (2019) 9 SCC 24. 4. Ld. Counsel for applicant/accused Surjeet Singh has argued that the applicant is innocent; that it is not the case of the prosecution that the applicant was involved in any act of corruption; that the applicant is running a transportation business; that the entire evidence is documentary in nature and documents are in the possession of Anti-Corruption Branch; that trial is not likely to be completed any time soon; that there is no possibility of the applicant tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses. 5. Ld. counsel for applicant/accused Surjeet Singh has relied on the judgments reported as Sanjay Chandra v CBI (2012) 1 SCC 40, Manish Sisodia v Directorate of Enforcement SLP (Crl.) No.8772/2024 dated 09.08.2024, P. Chidambaram v Directorate of Enforcement (2019) 9 SCC 24. 6. Ld. Counsel for applicant/accused Vishal Kumar has advanced arguments similar to that of other accused persons. In addition, it is argued that the applicant was only a chartered accountant and he gave his certificates as per information received by him; that the applicant was arrested without giving him a chance to join investigation; that there is no allegation of giving of bribe by the applicant; that the applicant was only paid his fee for his services, and has not benefited from the sanctioning of GST refund; that the applicant was released on interim bail and he did not misuse the said benefit; that the applicant has to look after his ailing family members. -- 9 of 17 -- 7. Ld. counsel for applicant/accused Vishal Kumar has relied upon judgments reported as Puneet Mohnot v State of Rajasthan S. B. Criminal Miscellaneous Bail Application No.8721/2022 dated 21.06.2022, Anuj Gupta v Central Bureau of Investigation Bail Application No.279/2022 dated 23.02.2022, Sharat Babu Digumarti v Govt. of NCT of Delhi Criminal Appeal No.1222/2016 and Jainam Rathod v State of Haryana & Anr. Criminal Appeal No.640/2022. 8. Ld. Public Prosecutor has opposed the applications for bail by referring to previous orders of this Court. He has, however, not been able to respond to the query of the Court as to how the accused persons can be kept in custody after stay of the order of cognizance. 9. I have gone through the record. 10. Co-accused Mukesh Kumar Saini has been granted bail by order dated 18.12.2024. The applicants have sought bail on the ground of parity. It is not the case of the prosecution that the role played by the applicants was greater than that of co-accused Mukesh Kumar Saini. The grounds of bail apply to the applicants as well. The reasons for grant of bail are extracted from the order, as under: “The only ground that subsists which the prosecution is canvassing in order to stymie the prayer for bail is the gravity of the offence. However, as held in the case of P. Chidambram (supra) and Sanjay Chandra (supra), this ground alone cannot preclude the grant of bail. One can also not lose sight of the fact that cognizance of the offences has been taken by order dated 08.11.2024. However, the order of taking cognizance has been stayed by order dated 10.12.2024 passed by Hon’ble -- 10 of 17 -- High Court of Delhi in WP(Crl.) No.3859/2024. Since the order of cognizance has been stayed, the applicant cannot be remanded to custody under Section 309 of Code of Criminal Procedure. Nor can Section 167(2) of Code of Criminal Procedure be pressed into service since investigation qua the applicant is reported to be complete and also because the period prescribed under Section 167(2) Proviso of Code of Criminal Procedure has expired. Another factor that needs to be taken into consideration is that owing to further investigation which is pending, the trial of the applicant cannot commence. If the applicant is left to languish in custody for the said further investigation to be completed, it would frustrate the objective of Section 167(2) Proviso of Code of Criminal Procedure which guarantees to the accused the right not to be detained beyond ninety days on account of pendency of investigation. It has been stressed by Ld. Counsel for applicant/accused that there are several persons against whom the investigating officer did not proceed despite the fact that their role was identical to that of the applicant. Ld. Counsel for applicant/accused has alleged discriminatory treatment on the part of the investigating officer. The charge-sheet discloses the role played by Akhilesh Kumar Pandey. Yet he has not been made an accused. An exculpatory statement has been recorded suggesting that somebody may have forged the signatures of the said person but no attempt has been made to find out whether the signatures were actually forged and if so what was the identity of the forger. It is not even the case of the prosecution among the allegations enlisted in the charge-sheet that the signatures have been forged by somebody else. It appears that it is nobody’s case that signatures of the said person were forged and there is also no explanation as to why the said person would submit his identity related documents to somebody else. This person has not been arrayed as an accused without any explanation. He is not the only person so left out. There are scores of persons who have neither been arrested nor proceeded against although the allegations point towards their involvement to an extent greater than those indicted. In the charge-sheet, there are details of ninety-six firms that were sanctioned undue refund allegedly in connivance with the same GST officer. However, only a handful of those firms have been proceeded against by the Anti- Corruption Branch and regarding the others there is a studied silence. Even among the firms that have been so chosen, there are only some of the persons in their management who have been arrested by the investigating officer. -- 11 of 17 -- The only entity with which the applicant is shown to be associated is M/s. S. Satyam Aviation Pvt. Ltd. As per the statement of the applicant which is part of the charge-sheet, there are three directors in the said entity. The other directors in the company are stated to be Harshit Saini and Sanket Mahesh Patil. Neither of them have been arrested and it is nowhere stated that the said directors were unaware of the business and operations of the said entity. It does not behove an investigating officer to randomly pick up one person or one entity in the chain of money trail and foist responsibility for the crime upon him, while leaving out the prime offender who directly committed the offence. In case of Chandra Prakash Khandelwal v Directorate of Enforcement Bail Application No.2470/2022 dated 23.2.2023, the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, while granting bail to the accused took note of the fact that no action was taken against the intermediary company through which the link had proceeded. The following passage is relevant: “It is submitted the action was not taken upon the intermediary companies then how can action could be taken against an investment company which is down in the line, more specifically when the investment were accepted prior to 2014 when till that time the PACL was not declared as a corrective investment scheme. xxx Moreso, Ramchand Karunakaran, Managing Director vs. Directorate of Enforcement in CRL.A.1650/2022 decided on 23.09.2022; Dr. Bindu Rana v Serious Fraud Investigation Office in Bail Appln.3643/2022 decided on 20.01.2023, the bail was granted in PMLA and SFIO cases where co-accused with similar roles were not put to custody by the agency. xxx What weight the statements under Section 50 of PMLA would carry at the end of trial cannot be tested at the stage of bail, more importantly when the intermediary companies were never made an accused in the present ECIR.” In the case of Ramesh Manglani v Directorate of Enforcement, Bail Application No.3611/2022 dated 30.05.2023, bail was granted by taking into account that -- 12 of 17 -- similarly placed co-accused persons had not been arrested by the investigating agency. The relevant passage is extracted thus: “Insofar as the ED not having arrested similarly placed co- accused persons; and not even having arraigned some other persons evidently connected with the offending transactions as accused in the prosecution complaint, though these aspects would not be dispositive of a bail plea one way or the other, they are also not wholly irrelevant and the ‘doctrine of parity’ is not immaterial. As held by this Court in Ashish Mittal (supra) considering the nature of the offence, where the gravamen of the offence is that several persons acting in concert have siphoned- off and ‘laundered’ monies, it is manifestly arbitrary for the ED to have made selective arrests and arraignments.” The above judgments apply on all fours since a reading of the charge-sheet, supporting documents and statements under Section 161 of Code of Criminal Procedure show that the Anti-Corruption Branch has been proceeding against persons in a selective manner. The liberty of a citizen cannot be left at the mercy of the whims of the investigating officer. In this background, it is also to be noted that the name of the applicant does not figure in the list of twenty-four firms mentioned in the charge-sheet as those chosen to be investigated and to whom the GST refund was allegedly sanctioned. It is not the case of the prosecution that any of the mobile phone numbers used for registering the said firms belongs to the applicant. Just because some money was received in the account of the company in which the applicant was a director, it cannot be said that the applicant was involved in making a false claim of GST refund, more particularly when the GST refund was not claimed by the entity owned by the applicant and when no action has been taken against the entity which claimed the refund or its controller. There is nothing to show that the applicant had committed any forgery of a document. The standard required to be achieved before one can be alleged to be involved in forgery is laid down by Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Sheila Sebastian V. R. Jawaharaj & Anr. (2018) 7 SCC 581 wherein it was observed as follows: “Keeping in view the strict interpretation of penal statue i.e. referring to rule of interpretation wherein natural inferences are preferred, we observe that a charge of forgery cannot be imposed on a person who is not the -- 13 of 17 -- matter of the same. As held in plethora of cases, making of a document is different than causing it to be made.” In the present case too the applicant is not alleged to be the maker of the document. In the aforesaid decision, the Hon’ble Supreme Court went on to conclude as follows: “Law is well settled with regard to the fact that however strong the suspicion may be, it cannot take the place of proof. Strong suspicion, coincidence, grave doubt cannot take the place of proof. Always a duty is cast upon the Courts to ensure that suspicion does not take place of the legal proof. In this case, the trial Court as well as the appellate Court carried away by the fact that accused is the beneficiary or the executant of the mortgage deed, where the prosecution miserably failed to prove the first transaction i.e PoA as a fraudulent and forged transaction. The standard of proof in a criminal trial is proof beyond reasonable doubt because the right to personal liberty of a citizen can never be taken away by the standard of preponderance of probability. This case on hand is a classic example of poor prosecution and shabby investigation which resulted in the acquittal of the accused. The Investigating Officer is expected to be diligent while discharging his duties. He has to be fair, transparent and his only endeavour should be to find out the truth.” The concluding paragraph of the charge-sheet, not being substantiated by the preceding paragraphs of the charge-sheet and the supporting documents, has been demonstrated to be hyperbole. The only evidence marshalled by the prosecution, apart from the said money received in the account of the company in which the applicant is director and which is stated to be legitimate money, is confession of co-accused person which is not substantive evidence as held in the case of Haricharan Kurmi v State of Bihar (1964) 6 SCR 623 in the following words: “As we have already indicated, this question has been considered on several occasions by judicial decisions and it has been consistently held that a confession cannot be treated as evidence which is substantive evidence against a co-accused person.” -- 14 of 17 -- The most startling of facts is that the investigating officer has not disclosed the aspect of illegal gratification in the charge-sheet. It has not been asserted that bribe was paid, nor has any detail been provided about the date and place of demand of bribe, or of acceptance of bribe. Nor has any such sum been recovered. Inspite of this, the prosecution is trying to portray that a case under Prevention of Corruption Act is made out against the applicant and others. In the case of Neeraj Dutta v State (2023) 4 SCC 731, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that for making out a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the prosecution must prove both demand and acceptance of illegal gratification. More than two months have passed after dismissal of the previous bail application of the applicant. At that time, investigation was pending. The charge-sheet has now been filed. In the case of Babu Singh & Ors. V State of U. P. (19789) 1 SCC 579, Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that the dismissal of previous application for bail does not preclude filing of second application for bail on a later occasion “giving more materials, further developments and different considerations ”. The case is not making any headway. There are 191 witnesses in the list that has been sent so far. The total number of pages among the charge-sheet and relied upon documents over 14,000. Trial, whenever it commences (since further investigation is going on), will take substantial period. In the case of Manish Sisodia v Directorate of Enforcement SLP (Crl.) No.8772/2024 dated 09.08.2024, bail was granted because there was no likelihood of trial being concluded in the near future, given the volume of documents. The presence of accused at the trial can be secured by imposing conditions. In my opinion, in light of the aforesaid circumstances, the application for bail deserves to be allowed.” 11. Since the aforesaid grounds apply to the applicants, by applying the rule of parity, the applicants too are entitled to be released on bail. In this behalf, reference is made to the decision of Vishnu Ram Chandra Maheshwari v State of M.P. (1999) 1 MPLJ 516 and Bajrang Gupta v CBI Bail Application No.2497/2015. I also find that the decision of Kanchaman Yonjan v State (2024) SCC OnLine Del 4734, in which it has been held that each day spent -- 15 of 17 -- in custody provides a new cause of action to seek bail, supports the maintainability of the present bail applications. 12. Although the stage to appreciate evidence has not been arrived, it would be relevant to note that the investigating agency has been arbitrary in the choice of who to indict as accused and who is to be arrayed as witness regardless of the role surfaced by the evidence on record. This runs foul of the decisions reported as Banu Singh v Emperor (1906) ILR 33 CAL 1353, Laxmandas Chaganlal Bhatia & Ors. v State (1966) SCC OnLine BOM 17 and Laxmipat Choraria & Ors. v State of Maharashtra AIR 1968 SC 938. 13. It is worthy to note that there is sufficient indication about involvement of persons by name of Ravi Mehra, Tarun Verma, Ashwani Kumar Pandey, Akhilesh Kumar Pandey, Vipin Kumar Singh, Rameshwar Kumar, Raj Kumar, Sameer and several others (the identity of the forger of the document mentioned in page 91 of the charge-sheet, those persons who gave incorrect addresses in order to commit these offences, those who actually owned and controlled the 96 firms which had already obtained GST refund and the authorized signatory of the firms, those who had got sim cards issued which were used in commission of the offences) and yet no action was taken against them. 14. In light of the aforesaid circumstances, all four applications for bail are allowed. Applicants Vishal Kumar, Surjeet Singh, Raj Singh and Narender Kumar Saini are directed to be enlarged on bail, on each furnishing personal -- 16 of 17 -- bond in the sum of Rs.25,000/- with one surety in the like sum and subject to the following conditions: a. The applicants shall not leave the country without prior permission of this Court. b. The applicants shall not misuse the benefit of bail by indulging in commission of similar offences in future. c. The applicants shall not contact any of the witnesses of the case or extend, directly or indirectly, any inducement or threat to the witnesses. d. The applicants shall appear before this Court on each and every date of hearing. e. The applicants shall intimate this Court in case of change of their address. 15. If the applicants are found to be violating any of the above conditions, the State shall be at liberty to move an application for cancellation of bail. 16. It is made clear that the observations made in this order are only for the purpose of deciding the applications for bail. The observations are prima facie in nature and shall not be taken into account at the time of deciding on the point of charge or at the stage of final disposal of the case on merits. 17. Copy of this order be given dasti to Ld. Counsel for applicants. 18. Put up on date fixed i.e. 30.01.2025. (Ashish Aggarwal) Special Judge (PC Act)(ACB)-02 Rouse Avenue District Courts, New Delhi 21.12.2024 -- 17 of 17 --
