Punjab and Haryana HC grant bail to mother-son duo, allegedly illegally detained in fraud case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted bail in an alleged fraud case involving illegal detention of a mother and son.

The court added that the plea was prepared on October 31, considering that due to the festival of Diwali, The presence of the suspects was awaited in their home.

It was alleged that a sitting AIG is a relative of the complainant and the police party, going hand in hand with the complainant’s family, converted the civil dispute into a criminal case.

Judge Sanjay Vashisth said, “Prima facie, the contention advanced by the petitioner’s counsel in the present petition appears more likely and if true, then undoubtedly there has already been undue harassment of the detainees by the police. However, this is still under investigation by the Court.”

The complaint was filed alleging that inmate Meena Rani, owner of the firm M/s Manmohan Enterprises, had taken two godowns on rent from complainant Tejinder Kaur, located in Ludhiana. The possession with the detenue would take place on the basis of a recognized leasehold deed dated 20.11.2019, which came into effect on 1.12.2019 for five years, and additional leasehold deed dated 29.05.2023.

Counsel for the petitioner has argued that the execution of the first lease deed by the complainant is not disputed. However, the second lease deed dated 29.05.2023 has been disputed by the complainant.

It was alleged that an FIR was filed on October 24 to harass the detainees under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120-B and 427 of the IPC.

Counsel for the petitioner has also submitted that there was continued pressure from the police to hand over the original supplementary lease deed dated May 29, 2023 at the police station despite repeated requests for a notice of default in respect of the demand of the original rental agreement. Such requests were flatly rejected and no notice was ever received.

The petitioner and detenues feared that if the said lease deed was handed over to the police, it would either be destroyed or tampered with.

After hearing the submissions, the Court asked the SHO where is the complainant and why is she not present before this Court. He replied that the complainant – Tejinder Kaur, resides in the United States of America (USA) and the FIR has been filed on her complaints dated 04.04.2024 and 15.05.2024.

“There is no plausible and satisfactory explanation given by Mr. Gurdial Singh, SI/SHO that once the complainant’s version of the commission of the offense was available to the police, why immediate action was not taken by the police in response of the complaints dated April 4. 2024 and 15.05.2024 itself, when even the complainant himself was present in the country at the relevant time,” the Court said.

Justice Vashishth highlighted that why suddenly after filing a report by the police before the Illaqa magistrate, a criminal case has now been registered despite there being no immediate complaint or recollection by the complainant and also her not being present in the country .

The judge said, “To explain all this, no satisfactory explanation has been given by Dr Dharminder Singh Lamba, DAG, Punjab or Mr Gurdial Singh, SI/SHO, who is also present in court.”

In view of the above, the Court, while exercising inherent jurisdiction under Section 528 of BNSS, 2023 read with constitutional mandate and considering that there is no allegation of involvement of the accused in any other criminal case, granted bail to mother-son duo.

The Court has listed the case for November 25 for further examination of the content of the allegations mentioned in the petition and in particular the role of the police officers.

“In the meantime, the Director General of Police, Punjab, is at liberty to order an independent inquiry into the alleged role of the police in the case, in accordance with law, and submit a report to this Court about the next date of hearing,” the judge added.

Title: MANGAL KUMAR DAWAR V/S STATE OF PUNJAB AND ORS

Mr. Lajwant Singh Virk, Advocate, on behalf of the petitioner.

Dr. Dharminder Singh Lamba, DAG, Punjab.

Click here to read/download the order