Cr.Misc. M 32051 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Cr.Misc. M 32051 of 2010 Date of decision: 25.7.2011 Sanjeev Aggarwal @ Rinki petitioner vs State of Haryana respondent Present:- Mr. Pawan Kumar, Sr.Advocate with Mr. Saqib Ali Khan, Advocate. Ms. Sushma Chopra, Addl.A.G.Hry Mr. SK Chauhan, Advocate for Mr. RM singh, Advocate. M.M.S.BEDI The petitioner seeks the concession of pre-arrest bail in a case, registered at the instance of R.S.Jaiswal alleging that through M/S Bhatia Front Carrier Transport, Faridabad, 12500 brass valves worth Rs.9,44,625/- contained in a number of boxes were sent from Faridabad to be unloaded at Patiala through one vehicle, driven by Sarabjit Singh and owned by Sandeep Kumar @ Billa. The goods did not reach the destination. Ultimately, the truck was recovered at Jalandhar. Ramji @ Ram was arrested on 27.9.2010. He made a disclosure statement that he was a junk dealer and on 27.9.2010 one Vicky son of Paramjit of Jalandhar had come to him along with vehicle No. PB 05 GA 1572 along with driver Sarabjit and that he had shown the goods to him. Vicky had told him that the goods were of brass worth Rs. 20 Lacs, on which Ramji had told Vicky that he did not have money with him, as such, he allegedly rang the present petitioner. The present petitioner along with his father and Cr.Misc. M 32051 of 2010 2 cousin agreed to purchase the goods for a sum of Rs.7.00 lacs. The truck was allegedly taken to the godown of the petitioner where 126 boxes of brass were unloaded and the amount was given to Vicky. Learned counsel for the petitioner has vehemently argued that neither the truck driver nor the owner of the truck has been arrested and that that petitioner, who deals in the sale of utensils has been falsely implicated in the case on the basis of statement of the accused, made before the police. The petitioner does not own any godown and the story of confession by Ramji and Vicky is a cooked up story just to involve the petitioner. Learned State counsel has argued that during the course of investigation a sum of Rs.10,000/- has been recovered from Vicky and another sum of Rs.60,000/- has been recovered from Ramji, which amount was allegedly handed over by the petitioner. Only truck has been recovered, whereas the remaining goods are not traceable. Learned counsel for the complainant and State counsel have submitted that brass goods are yet to be recovered. I have carefully considered the contentions of Mr. Pawan Kumar that no reliance can be placed on the statements of co-accused of the petitioner made before the police official. Vicky and Ramji have made some disclosures before the police which certainly can be retracted by them. The investigation is at initial stage, when the police has to gather what ever material is available with it to get a clue regarding 126 boxes of brass valves which have disappeared after having been dispatched from Faridabad. In an endeavour to seek a track of the goods misappropriated, the investigation agency has reached at a stage till the same were handed over to the petitioner. At this crucial stage grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner will hamper the effective investigation. Custodial interrogation may help the investigating agency to arrive at the truth. It will be pre-mature Cr.Misc. M 32051 of 2010 3 to enter into the niceties of trial to determine the admissibility or relevance of the material being gathered by the investigating agency. No extra ordinary exceptional circumstances exist for the grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner. Dismissed July 25 , 2011 (M.M.S.BEDI ) TSM JUDGE