IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION Criminal I Bail Application No.525 of 2010 Order on the Bail application of accused CRIMINAL SIDE Inaam Ali S/o Amir Ahmed R/o Meerapur Kasba Jaansat, Distt. Muzaffarnagar, UP ……….Applicant (In Jail) Versus State of Uttarakhand ------- Opposite party ________________________________________________________ Arising out of FIR No.2 of 2010, U/s 7/13(1)(D) r/w Section 13(2) Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, P.S. Vigilance, Haldwani Dated: May 20, 2010 Hon’ble Dharam Veer, J. Heard Sri A.D. Massey, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Amit Bhatt, learned Addl. GA for the State. As per the FIR, the present applicant was nabbed on 24.3.2010 while accepting Rs.25,000/- as illegal gratification at his house Gopalnagar, Rudarpur in front of two independent witnesses, namely, Naveen Panwar and Chandra Singh Adhikari. The allegation against the applicant is that he was demanding money of Rs.25,000/- from the complainant Girish Chandra Joshi as illegal gratification due to which the complaint was made by the complainant to Vigilance Department, on which the above proceedings were initiated. The necessary formalities for conducting the trap, as provided under the Act, were also been carried out. 2 Learned counsel for the applicant argued that the applicant has been falsely implicated. Per contra, learned Addl. GA argued that the applicant, being a public servant and a Principal of a Government College, has been nabbed on the spot while demanding and accepting the amount of Rs.25,000/- as illegal gratification. Further, there is no reason for false implication of the applicant and the applicant was caught red handed on the spot while taking the illegal gratification and it cannot be said that it is a case of false implication. It was next argued that the remand was not made within 24 hours. Per contra, learned Addl. GA argued that it is proved that the applicant was nabbed on 24.3.2010 at 7:45 AM and on 25.3.2010, he was produced in the court. But it is pertinent to mention here that he was nabbed from Gadarpur. After his arrest, the applicant was taken to Nainital for remand. The distance from Gadarpur to Nainital is about 90 kilometers which includes of 40 kilometers of hill journey and it requires time to travel by bus and it is settled law that the journey time deserves to be excluded and hence the time consumed seems to be natural. After considering the above-said facts and circumstances, on hearing learned counsel for the parties, contents of the FIR and other papers available on record particularly considering the fact that the applicant, who was a Principal i.e. a government servant, was nabbed on the spot while demanding and accepting the illegal gratification of Rs.25,000/- in presence of two witnesses, therefore, looking to the gravity of offence, it is not a fit case where the applicant is entitled for bail. The bail application is liable to be rejected and is accordingly rejected. (Dharam Veer, J.) 20.05.2010 Rajeev Dang