Crl. Misc. No. M-29880 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Case No. : Crl. Misc. No. M-29880 of 2011 Date of Decision : October 13, 2011 Satish Kumar and others .... Petitioners Vs. State of Haryana .... Respondent CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE L. N. MITTAL * * * Present : Mr. Rahul Deswal, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Tarun Aggarwal, Senior DAG, Haryana. * * * L. N. MITTAL, J. (Oral) : Satish Kumar, Ranbir Singh and Mahi Pal Singh have filed the instant petition for regular bail in case FIR No.364 dated 24.07.2011, under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act and Sections 409, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, registered at Police Station Nissing, District Karnal. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the case file. According to the prosecution version, the petitioners, who are Crl. Misc. No. M-29880 of 2011 2 depot holders, sold kerosene oil meant for public distribution system in black market and prepared forged record of distribution of the kerosene oil to ration-card holders. Satish Kumar – petitioner no.1 is alleged to have sold 600 litres kerosene oil @ Rs.20/- per litre as against controlled rate of Rs.13.27 per litre, whereas petitioners no.2 and 3 are said to have sold 1050 litres and 1000 litres respectively of kerosene oil in black market. Counsel for the petitioners contended that the petitioners are in custody since 27.07.2011 and the case is triable by Magistrate and challan has already been presented. Learned State counsel does not dispute this factual position. Investigation is complete. Trial is likely to take time. No useful purpose would be served by keeping the petitioners behind bars during pendency of trial. The quantity of kerosene oil sold by the petitioners in black market is also not very large. They are already in custody for 2½ months. In view of the aforesaid, without meaning to express any opinion on merits, the instant bail petition is allowed. Bail to the satisfaction of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate, Karnal. October 13, 2011 ( L. N. MITTAL ) monika JUDGE