Crl. Misc. No. M- 7304 of 2009 Jeewan Lal v. State of Punjab Present: Mr. Amit Aggarwal, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Deepak Jindal, AAG, Haryana. *** Heard counsel for the parties. The petitioner seeks regular bail in a case registered against him for the offences under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B and 201 IPC registered at Police Station Ratia District Fatehabad. The FIR in the case has been registered on the statement of the complainant Satnam Singh. It has been alleged by the complainant that he purchased an Indica car from one Balwinder Singh and got his name transferred in the registration certificate from the office of District Transport Officer at Mansa (Punjab). Later, it was found that registration certificate of the aforesaid vehicle was forged and fabricated. The matter was investigated by the Crime Branch, Fatehabad. During investigation, it was found that the registration number of the vehicle was forged and registration certificate was also forged and fabricated. The actual registration number of the vehicle was HR0 IT-3326 issued by the Registration Authority, Ambala and financed by Kotak Mohindra Finance Company. On 30.5.2008, Balwinder Singh had purchased this vehicle from Sukhwinder Singh. During interrogation, Balwinder Singh disclosed that the forged and fabricated registration certificate was got prepared by him from Jeewan Lal (petitioner) and Harjeet Singh employed in the office of District Transport Officer, Mansa (Punjab). The registration copy was initially recorded by Harjeet Singh with the stamp and signature of Jeewan Lal. The material used in the fabrication of the registration certificate was issued from the almirah of Jeewan Lal (petitioner). Crl. Misc. No. M- 7304 of 2009 [2] Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner is in custody since 30.10.2008. It is submitted that the petitioner is neither beneficiary nor the authorized signatory for the transfer of vehicle in the present case. The petitioner is working as a Junior Assistant in the office of District Transport Officer, Mansa (Punjab). Besides, the registration copy of the Indica Car bearing registration No. PB-31E 3807 was prepared by the co-accused of the petitioner namely Harjeet Singh in October, 2006. At that time, the petitioner was working at Chandigarh and was not posted at Mansa. The petitioner in fact was transferred from Chandigarh to Mansa on 21.6.2007. So, the registration certificate of the car, it is submitted, was prepared before the petitioner was working at Mansa. In response, learned counsel for the State has submitted that the petitioner is habitual in such manipulation and there are two other cases registered against him i.e. FIR No.103 dated 21.7.2008 registered at Police Station Tappa Distt. Barnala in the State of Punjab and FIR No.355 dated 6.8.2008 at Police Station Ratia Distt. Fatehabad in the State of Haryana. Besides, it is submitted that Balwinder had disclosed during interrogation that he got the registration copy of the Indica vehicle prepared from the petitioner. After giving my thoughtful consideration to the matter, it may be noticed that the petitioner has been in custody since 30.10.2008. The trial in the case is likely to take time. The case is triable by the Court of Magistrate Ist Class. The evidentiary value of the statement of co-accused of the petitioner namely Harjeet Singh is to be considered and gone into after evidence has been led. Besides, the fact that the petitioner was not working at Mansa when the registration certificate was prepared, is also a circumstance which would require consideration. The other co-accused of the petitioner namely Harjeet Singh has been granted the concession of bail. Therefore, it would be just and expedient that the petitioner is also granted the concession of bail. Crl. Misc. No. M- 7304 of 2009 [3] Accordingly, the Crl. Misc. petition is allowed and the petitioner shall be admitted to bail on his furnishing personal bond and surety to the satisfaction of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Fatehabad. (S.S. SARON) JUDGE April 16, 2009 amit