In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh ...... Criminal Misc. No.M-14432 of 2010 ..... Date of decision:17.5.2010 Balwinder Singh .....Petitioner v. State of Punjab and others .....Respondents .... Present: Mr. Ravish Bansal, Advocate for the petitioner. ..... S.S. Saron, J. The petitioner seeks pre-arrest bail in a case registered against him on 19.5.2001 for the offences under Sections 406, 420 and 120-B IPC and Section 24 of the Immigration Act, 1983. The FIR in the case has been registered on the complaint of Balwinder Kaur wife of Jagtar Singh who has alleged that the petitioner and his wife Baljeet Kaur came to the complainant at Village Raipur Araian and represented that the petitioner is an agent and he sends persons to France, Germany, Dubai, Jordan. The petitioner assured the complainant that he would take a small amount. The complainant got allured by the sweet talk of the petitioner and his wife and they agreed to pay Rs.3,50,000/- for sending Jagtar Singh husband of the complainant to France. Thereafter, from the year 1998 members of the family of the petitioner i.e. Amrik Singh (brother of the petitioner) and Faqir Chand (father of the petitioner) started coming to the complainant. In the year 1998, they took Rs.1 Lac from the complainant in the house of Surjit Kaur Cr. Misc. No.M-14432 of 2010 [2] wife of Jaswant Singh resident of Raipur Araian for sending Jagtar Singh to France. They kept on assuring Jagtar Singh, husband of the complainant, that very soon the job would be done. On 9.12.1999, another amount of Rs.2,50,000/- was paid. In this manner, Rs.3,50,000/- that is the entire amount was paid which was their hard earned money. According to the petitioner, the petitioner was out of the country on 19.5.2001 when the FIR was registered and he returned only in April 2010. Therefore, it is submitted that the petitioner is entitled to the concession of pre-arrest bail as co-accused of the petitioner, namely, Baljit Kaur, Faqir Singh and Amrik Singh have been acquitted by the learned Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Kapurthala vide order dated 29.11.2004 (Annexure-P.1). After giving my thoughtful consideration to the contentions of the learned counsel for the petitioner it may be noticed that an amount of Rs.1 Lac was paid in the year 1998 in the house of Surjit Kaur wife of Jaswant Singh. On 9.12.1999, another amount of Rs.2,50,000 was paid. The petitioner is stated to be abroad on the date of registration of FIR i.e. 19.5.2001. However, it is not the case of the petitioner that he was abroad in the year 1998 and on 9.12.1999 when the amount in question was given. The wife, brother and father of the petitioner were tried by the learned Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Kapurthala. Therefore, it cannot be said that the petitioner was unaware of the FIR registered against him and the fact that he was declared a proclaimed offender in the case. The petitioner has remained proclaimed offender and now after nine years he has applied for grant of pre-arrest bail;. In the facts and circumstances, the petitioner is not entitled for Cr. Misc. No.M-14432 of 2010 [3] the concession of pre-arrest bail. Accordingly, the criminal miscellaneous petition is dismissed. However, in case the petitioner surrenders before the police within three days from receipt of copy of this order, his application for regular bail, if filed, shall be considered by the concerned Court within two days thereafter. May 17, 2010. (S.S. Saron) Judge *hsp*