The Allahabad High Court has granted anticipatory bail to Ashish Kumar Singh, an Assistant Teacher accused of getting a job with a fake marksheet.
A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Singh passed this order, while hearing a Criminal Miscellaneous Anticipatory bail application under Section 438 CrPC filed by Singh.
It was submitted on behalf of the applicant that he was innocent and the FIR has been lodged on false and frivolous facts on the basis of general allegation and no specific role has been assigned to the applicant, nor it has been specified as to in what manner the applicant got his mark sheet forged.
Such type of allegation made in the report of SIT that there were more than 3500 fake mark sheets and about 1000 tampered mark sheets, cannot be the basis of lodging an FIR against the applicant.
The applicant has completed his service as Assistant Teacher for more than a decade.
It is next contended that the ingredients of offences were absent and the entire prosecution story was based on false and frivolous allegations.
It was also submitted that several similarly situated persons have been granted anticipatory bail by different Benches of the Court.
The applicant has not committed any offence as alleged. Police have not submitted a charge sheet in the case and the applicant has definite apprehension of his arrest by the police.
It was further submitted that there was no possibility of the applicant either fleeing away from the judicial process, or tampering with the witnesses.
Lastly, it was submitted that the applicant has no previous criminal antecedent to his credit.
The Additional Government Advocate opposed the prayer for anticipatory bail. He did not dispute the fact that several similarly situated persons have been granted anticipatory bail.
“Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, considering the nature of accusation and the fact that the applicant has no criminal antecedent, he is entitled to be released on anticipatory bail in the case,” the Court observed.
The Court ordered that in the event of arrest of Ashish Singh, who is involved in case under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC, at police station Madnapur, District Shahjahanpur, shall be released on anticipatory bail till the submission of police report, under Section 173 (2) CrPC, before the competent court, on his furnishing a personal bond of Rs 25,000, with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Station House Officer of the police station concerned with the following conditions:-
(i) the applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by a police officer, as and when required;
(ii) the applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case, so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any police officer;
(iii) the applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the Court and if he has a passport, the same shall be deposited by him/her before the SSP/SP Concerned.
In default of any of the conditions, the Investigating Officer is at liberty to file an appropriate application for cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to the applicant.
The Investigating Officer is directed to conclude the investigation of the case in accordance with law expeditiously, preferably within a period of three months from the date of production of a certified copy of the order independently without being prejudice by any observation made by the Court, while considering and deciding the anticipatory bail application of the applicant.