Criminal Misc. No. M-14593 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No. M-14593 of 2011 Date of decision : 01.06.2011 Lachhman Singh ....Petitioner V/s State of Punjab ....Respondent BEFORE : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. R.S. Randhawa, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Arshwinder Singh, Addl. Advocate General, Punjab. RAJAN GUPTA J. (ORAL) This is a petition filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail in a case registered against the petitioner vide FIR No. 397 dated 20.09.2010 under Sections 420/406/166/167/409/419/465/467/468/471/120-B IPC and under Sections 7/13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Police Station Division No. 5, Civil Lines, District Ludhiana. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that petitioner has been in custody since 20.09.2010, investigation of the case has been completed and challan presented before the competent court of jurisdiction. He submits that trial may take long time to conclude, thus, no useful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody during its pendency. Criminal Misc. No. M-14593 of 2011 2 Learned State counsel has opposed the prayer for bail on the ground that allegations against the petitioner are serious. He, however, does not dispute the fact that investigation has been completed and challan presented before the competent court of jurisdiction. Keeping in view the period of incarceration of the petitioner and the fact that investigation has been completed, I am of the considered view that no useful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner any longer. Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I deem it appropriate to grant regular bail to the petitioner. Accordingly, the petition is allowed and petitioner is ordered to be enlarged on bail to the satisfaction of Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate, Ludhiana. June 01, 2011 (RAJAN GUPTA) Ajay JUDGE