IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No. M-30541 of 2011 Date of decision : November 08, 2011 Bakshish Singh alias Bali ....Petitioner versus State of Punjab ....Respondent Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice L.N. Mittal Present : Mr. Vaibhav Narang, Advocate, for the petitioner Mr. Shailesh Gupta, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab L.N. Mittal, J. (Oral) Bakshish Singh alias Bali has filed this petition for bail in case FIR No. 59 dated 24.6.2010, under section 420 IPC, registered at Police Station Kathunangal, District Amritsar Rural. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case file. According to the prosecution version, petitioner and his brother co-accused Rajwinder Singh while in Muscat allured Kashmir Singh brother of complainant Baljit Singh for sending Kashmir Singh to England on payment of Rs 6,50,000/-. Family of the petitioner resides in District Gurdaspur. As per instructions of petitioner and his brother co-accused, complainant party paid Rs 6 lacs to petitioner's father Joginder Singh and other family members and also paid Rs 30,000/- to petitioner's mother Parkash Kaur and other family members. Criminal Misc. No. M-30541 of 2011 -2- Counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner has come from Muscat and surrendered and is in custody since 14.7.2011. Learned State counsel, on instructions from SI Baldev Singh, conceded that the petitioner is in custody since 14.7.2011 i.e. for almost four months. It was also stated that the challan has since been presented although proceedings for declaring petitioner's brother co-accused Rajwinder Singh as proclaimed offender are going on. However, investigation qua petitioner is complete. It was also stated by State counsel that Parkash Kaur, Manjit Kaur, Harjit Kaur and Sukhdev Singh were found innocent whereas petitioner's father Joginder Singh has since been granted bail. The amount of Rs 6 lacs was paid to Joginder Singh. Petitioner was in Muscat at the relevant time. Trial is likely to take long time. Case is triable by Magistrate. No useful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody for indefinite period. In view of the aforesaid but without meaning to express any opinion on merits of the case, the instant petition is allowed. Bail to the satisfaction of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate, Amritsar. ( L.N. Mittal ) November 08, 2011 Judge 'dalbir'