Criminal Misc. No. M-12015 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No. M-12015 of 2011 Date of decision : 03.05.2011 Veer Singh Saini ....Petitioner V/s State of Haryana ....Respondent BEFORE : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. Pawan Kumar, Sr. Advocate with Mr. S.A. Khan, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Vikas Malik, AAG Haryana. RAJAN GUPTA J. (ORAL) This is a petition filed under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking pre-arrest bail in a case registered against the petitioner vide FIR No. 128 dated 23.12.2010 under Sections 406, 409, 420, 467, 468 & 471 IPC at Police Station Behal, Police Post Chahar. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that only allegation in the FIR against the petitioner is that he sanctioned funds for execution of work for the MNREGA scheme. However, the same was done pursuant to permission given by Deputy Commissioner, Bhiwani vide orders, Annexures P-8 & P-9. He submits that from a perusal of the FIR which is based on the inquiry report, it is clear that no specific role is attributed to the Criminal Misc. No. M-12015 of 2011 2 petitioner nor he is beneficiary in any manner. He is thus entitled to concession of pre-arrest bail. Learned State counsel has vehemently opposed the prayer for bail. He submits that petitioner figured in the inquiry report conducted by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Bhiwani and he was similarly placed as the other accused whose plea for pre-arrest bail was dismissed by this court. He submits that during investigation statement of co-accused Ramphal was recorded who clearly stated that a sum of `20,03,582/- had been embezzled by all of them including the petitioner in connivance with each other. He submits that investigation of the case is in progress and custodial interrogation of the petitioner shall be required for taking the same to its logical end. I have heard learned counsel for the parties. The case was registered on a complaint made by Ramesh Chand, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Bhiwani who stated that on 19.04.2010 a complaint was received against Bedo Devi, Ex-Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat, Bithan whereupon an inquiry was ordered. During inquiry, it was found that B.S. Saini (petitioner herein) then BDPO had released the amount in question even before the work pertaining to project commenced. The petitioner ignored from consideration the fact that Sarpanch had embezzled the amount of `7,00,000/-. Co-accused (Suresh Kumar, Gram Secretary) who was having a joint account with Sarpanch (Bedo Devi) had unauthorizedly withdrawn the amount sanctioned for the scheme. During investigation statement of co-accused (Ramphal) was recorded by the investigating officer and he clearly stated that an amount of `20,03,582/- meant for development works under the MNREGA scheme Criminal Misc. No. M-12015 of 2011 3 had been embezzled by accused including the petitioner in connivance with each other. In view of nature of allegations levelled against the petitioner, I am of the considered view that he is not entitled to concession of pre-arrest bail. The petition is devoid of merit and is hereby dismissed. May 03, 2011 (RAJAN GUPTA) Ajay JUDGE