31 May, 2021

Supreme Court removed the condition of depositing 60 lakhs for bail of a man who remained in jail for 6 years

 

One of the accused in the fraud and forgery case got bail, but the condition of the bail was such that the accused was unable to complete it. So the man was behind bars for nearly six years despite getting bail. However, now the Supreme Court has removed the condition of depositing Rs 60 lakh while giving relief to that accused. A bench of Justices Vineet Sharan and Justice BR Gavai accepted the petition filed by SK Mumtaz alias Sumtaz against such a condition imposed by the Orissa High Court in the order dated 16 July 2015.

The apex court said that as an undertrial prisoner, the petitioner had spent more than six years in jail as he was not able to pay Rs 60 lakh. The man was arrested on 23 June 2014. The petitioner had claimed that he was a poor person and the company had named him as one of the directors while he was just a watchman in the company. The accused challenged the validity of the High Court's order of October 21, 2020, refusing to grant relief from the condition of bail.

The Supreme Court, after looking into the facts of the case, has asked the accused to release him on bail, removing the condition imposed on him to deposit Rs 60 lakh. However, the Supreme Court has upheld the conditions imposed by the High Court in the year 2015. The accused has been asked to fulfill all these conditions. The Odisha police had opposed the plea, stating that the petitioner, along with Dilip Kumar Bala and Ashok Kumar Ghadai of Darubrahma Builders Pvt Ltd, defrauded the complainant Subhara Mohanty of Rs four crore by creating fake documents. The woman wanted to buy around 100 acres of land in Cuttack to set up an NGO. Allegations against the accused are that they had made 'cell deed' of the lands of others through fake documents.

The police also said that the offenses under which the accused have been charged carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The police said that the accused can run away if he is granted bail. Also, the police also said that Bala, another accused who was granted interim bail for 20 days in the year 2017, did not surrender and is still absconding.

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Dr. Deepak Miglani, Email id.:- legalbuddy@gmail.com

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