Case: Manoranjana Sinh @ Gupta Vs. Central Bureau Of Investigation

Mr. K. Raghavacharyulu, Special Public Prosecutor has assiduously urged that having regard to the mandate of this Court to unfailingl investigate the larger conspiracy angle and determine the money trail of the deep-rooted counterfeit affecting lakhs of innocent depositors, release of the appellant at this stage would be inexpedient. In controversion, it has been asserted that the MOU and the agreement mentioned in the charge-sheet, in the facts of the case are only a front to indulge in criminal activities as divulged in the investigation. While emphasizing that the appellant since her arrest has managed to remain housed in hospitals, by feigning ailments, without suffering any incarceration in the real sense, it has been asserted that lastly, she has also given up her plea based on medical ground and thus it is of no avail or significance for the present. According to Mr. K. Raghavacharyulu, her hospital bills also do not endorse her plea of illness and treatment in connection therewith. He has urged that as the investigation is in progress, notwithstanding the release of some of the accused persons, it is not a fit case to grant bail to the appellant, more so when the Trial Court as well as the High Court have rejected her prayer to that effect on a consideration of all relevant aspects. 14. We have closely analyzed the competing contentions and have perused as well the pleadings and documents presently available on records. In course of the arguments, having noticed the emphasis on the ongoing investigation as a factor against grant of bail, we had required the learned counsel for the CBI to furnish a status report with regard thereto disclosing the updates, for a fair decision.15. Accordingly, a status report had been laid before us in a sealed cover, which apart from the background facts leading to the registration of the case, arrest of the accused persons including the appellant and the submission of the charge-sheets as on date, has not in very clear and persuasive terms indicated the specific issues/areas, presently being pursued in the investigation, so much so to impellingly justify further detention of the appellant in judicial custody. Though traces of the initiatives undertaken are available in the status report, those, in our comprehension, too general in nature. For obvious reasons, we refrain from dilating further on the contents of the said report.16. The recorded facts demonstrate admittedly that the appellant is continuously in judicial custody since 07.10.2015 and that the supplementary charge-sheet against her along with others as mentioned therein, had been filed on 04.01.2016 incorporating the evidence collected against those incriminated. Having regard to the magnitude and canvass of the investigation, it is likely that the exercise would take further time. Though according to the CBI, the ailments of the appellant are not worth any weight as a factor to grant her the privilege of bail, the medical records nevertheless suggest that she is suffering from a variety of ailments. Noticeably, the medical records have been issued by the hospitals in which she is undertaking treatment. We are not unmindful, at this juncture, of the nature of the hospital bills of hers as highlighted by the learned counsel for the respondent. Though it is the plea of the respondent that the appellant at times adopts a disposition to avoid interrogation by the CBI, no convincing material has been brought on record to demonstrate any misuse of her liberty qua the investigation while in the hospitals since her arrest. As per the medical records, her ailments range from ischemic heart disease to asthma, unstable angina, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, constant nausea and lower back pain. 17. This Court in Sanjay Chandra vs. Central Bureau of Investigation (2012) 1 SCC 40 , also involving an economic offence of formidable magnitude, while dealing with the issue of grant of bail, had observed that deprivation of liberty must be considered a punishment unless it is required to ensure that an accused person would stand his trial when called upon and that the courts owe more than verbal respect to the principle that punishment begins after conviction and that every man is deemed to be innocent until duly tried and found guilty. It was underlined that the object of bail is neither punitive nor preventive. This Court sounded a caveat that any imprisonment before conviction has a substantial punitive content and it would be improper for any court to refuse bail as a mark of disapproval of a conduct whether an accused has been convicted for it or not or to refuse bail to an unconvicted person for the purpose of giving him a taste of imprisonment as a lesson. It was enunciated that since the jurisdiction to grant bail to an accused pending trial or in appeal against conviction is discretionary in nature, it has to be exercised with care and caution by balancing the valuable right of liberty of an individual and the interest of the society in general. It was elucidated that the seriousness of the charge, is no doubt one of the relevant considerations while examining the application of bail but it was not only the test or the factor and that grant or denial of such privilege, is regulated to a large extent by the facts and circumstances of each particular case. That detention in custody of under-trial prisoners for an indefinite period would amount to violation of Article 21 of the Constitution was highlighted. 18. In the above factual premise and on an in-depth balancing of all relevant aspects and chiefly the competitive imperatives of investigation and the right to liberty, we are disposed, for the present to grant bail to the appellant, subject to the conditions, as enumerated hereinafter. To reiterate, having regard to the materials available, we are of the opinion, mainly in the face of the disclosures in the latest status report, that presently further confinement of the appellant in judicial custody is not an indispensable necessity for the unhindered investigation, that is in progress.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]14. We have closely analyzed the competing contentions and have perused as well the pleadings and documents presently available on records. In course of the arguments, having noticed the emphasis on the ongoing investigation as a factor against grant of bail, we had required the learned counsel for the CBI to furnish a status report with regard thereto disclosing the updates, for a fair decision.15. Accordingly, a status report had been laid before us in a sealed cover, which apart from the background facts leading to the registration of the case, arrest of the accused persons including the appellant and the submission of the charge-sheets as on date, has not in very clear and persuasive terms indicated the specific issues/areas, presently being pursued in the investigation, so much so to impellingly justify further detention of the appellant in judicial custody. Though traces of the initiatives undertaken are available in the status report, those, in our comprehension, too general in nature. For obvious reasons, we refrain from dilating further on the contents of the said report.16. The recorded facts demonstrate admittedly that the appellant is continuously in judicial custody since 07.10.2015 and that the supplementary charge-sheet against her along with others as mentioned therein, had been filed on 04.01.2016 incorporating the evidence collected against those incriminated. Having regard to the magnitude and canvass of the investigation, it is likely that the exercise would take further time. Though according to the CBI, the ailments of the appellant are not worth any weight as a factor to grant her the privilege of bail, the medical records nevertheless suggest that she is suffering from a variety of ailments. Noticeably, the medical records have been issued by the hospitals in which she is undertaking treatment. We are not unmindful, at this juncture, of the nature of the hospital bills of hers as highlighted by the learned counsel for the respondent. Though it is the plea of the respondent that the appellant at times adopts a disposition to avoid interrogation by the CBI, no convincing material has been brought on record to demonstrate any misuse of her liberty qua the investigation while in the hospitals since her arrest. As per the medical records, her ailments range from ischemic heart disease to asthma, unstable angina, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, constant nausea and lower back pain.In the above factual premise and on an in-depth balancing of all relevant aspects and chiefly the competitive imperatives of investigation and the right to liberty, we are disposed, for the present to grant bail to the appellant, subject to the conditions, as enumerated hereinafter. To reiterate, having regard to the materials available, we are of the opinion, mainly in the face of the disclosures in the latest status report, that presently further confinement of the appellant in judicial custody is not an indispensable necessity for the unhindered investigation, that is in progress.