Crl. Misc. No. M-1279 of 2010 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Crl. Misc. No. M-1279 of 2010 (O&M) Date of Decision: August 19, 2010 Nitin Sahai Kalia …..Petitioner Vs. State of Haryana …..Respondent CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M.S. BEDI. -.- Present:- Mr.Kanwaljit Singh, Sr. Advocate with Mr. H.S. Jugait, Advocate for the petitioner. Ms. Gursreet Kaur, DAG, Haryana, Mr. Davinder Lubana, Advocate for the complainant. -.- M.M.S. BEDI, J. (ORAL) The petitioner seeks the concession of pre-arrest bail in case registered at the instance of his wife Shikha alleging that the petitioner and his family members had maltreated her on account of demand of dowry. Crl. Misc. No. M-1279 of 2010 [2] Counsel for the complainant has intervened to oppose the petition for pre-arrest bail contending that the dowry article i.e. refrigerator, AC and other such like articles are still to be recovered. On the other hand, counsel for the petitioner by moving a misc. application has placed on record an affidavit of Shikha dated December 9, 2006 indicating that the complainant had friendly relationship with the petitioner prior to the marriage and she intended to marry him and had sworn an affidavit that she had not brought any kind of valuables such as jewellery, cash etc. from her house to be given to petitioner as dowry in wedding. The parties had married at Chandigarh in Arya Samaj Mandir which marriage ceremony appears to have been reluctantly attended by the family members of the petitioner and the complainant. State counsel has vehemently opposed the application for pre- arrest bail, inter-alia on the ground that a sum of Rs.50000/- had been deposited by the father of the complainant in the account of the petitioner and that there are allegations of petitioner beating upon the complainant in the month of April 2009 and snatching her mobile phone. Counsel for the complainant has inter-alia argued that even the passport of the complainant has been retained by the petitioner though there is no such allegation to the said effect in the FIR or otherwise. Counsel for the complainant has submitted that the National Saving Certificates worth Rs.1 lac in the name of petitioner had been purchased by the father of the complainant. Crl. Misc. No. M-1279 of 2010 [3] It is not out of place to mention here that during the pendency of the petition, an opportunity was given to the parties to amicably settle the dispute by approaching the Mediation and Conciliation centre, as it appears that it was a love marriage between the parties and that the parties were highly educated professional person intelligent enough to amicably settle the dispute but is appears that the dispute has not been settled. After hearing counsel for the parties and going through the entire circumstances of the case, I am of the opinion that the allegations of torture as referred to by the State counsel are vague. No specific date of any beating or assault has been mentioned in the FIR. So far as money deposited by the father of the complainant is concerned, counsel for the petitioner has voluntarily offer to re-pay any amount and has even offered the complainant-wife to join the company of the petitioner at any cost or on any conditions but counsel for the complainant has not been able to give any commitment on behalf of the complainant. Taking into consideration the totality of the circumstances and considering the affidavit of the complainant submitted by her at the time of marriage, this petition can be allowed. Petition is allowed and it is ordered that in case of arrest of the petitioner, he will be released on bail to the satisfaction of the arresting officer subject to the following conditions:- i) he will join investigation as and when required by the police; Crl. Misc. No. M-1279 of 2010 [4] ii) he will not tamper with the evidence or hamper the investigation in any manner; iii) petitioner will pay a bank draft of Rs.1.50 lacs in lieu of the alleged articles of dowry lying with the petitioner and the amount of NSC and the amount deposited by the father of the complainant in the account of petitioner within a period of one month, in the name of the complainant payable at Panchkula. The said bank draft will be handed over to the investigating officer without prejudice to the rights of the petitioner to adjust the amount subsequently. In case of such eventuality, the investigating officer will hand over the said bank draft to the complainant; iv) the petitioner will not leave India without the permission of the Court; and v) that any article belonging to the complainant like passport etc. will also be handed over by the petitioner in case he is in possession of the same otherwise, he would furnish an affidavit within a period of one month to the investigating officer regarding the fact that he is not in possession of the passport. August 19, 2010 (M.M.S.BEDI) sanjay JUDGE