The petitioner cannot be held liable for the irregularities under Mid-Day Meal Scheme as he constituted a committee for the same.: High court of Patna

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No. 66721 Arising Out of PS. Case No. 432 Year 2020 Thana RAJAOLI District Nawada Anil Kumar Male aged about 58 years Son of Late Baleshwar Singh Resident of Village Mahawatpur PS Sirdala District Nawadah at Present Incharge Head Master Upgrade Middle School Balia PS Rajauli District The State of Bihar ... Petitioner s ... Opposite Party s For the Petitioner s For the State Mr. Arun Kumar Advocate Mr. Anand Mohan Prasad Mehta APP CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH ORAL JUDGMENT Date : 21 08 2021 The matter has been heard via video conferencing 2. The case has been taken up out of turn on the basis of motion slip filed by learned counsel for the petitioner on 09.08.2021 which was allowed. 3. Heard Mr. Arun Kumar learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Anand Mohan Prasad Mehta learned Additional Public Prosecutorhad been made In charge for distribution of rice under the Mid Day Scheme with effect from 10.08.2020. It was submitted that the incident shown in the viral clip is of 18.08.2020 i.e. after the constitution of the said Committee. Learned counsel submitted that even in the viral the voice is that of co accused Ajit Kumar who was member of the said Committee and not the petitioner. It was submitted that in the Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.66721 dt.21 08 2021 matter complicity of the cook has been ruled out as the explanation that she had asked her son to take the rice which was kept in the sun to ensure that it did not go bad to the storage room has been accepted and that is why neither she nor her son have been made accused in the present case. Thus it was submitted that once the main allegation of two bags containing rice shown in the viral video being against the son of the cook no criminal liability can be fastened against the petitioner at least in the present matter. Learned counsel submitted that even with regard to detection of excess rice as the school was a COVID quarantine centre for migrants who were coming from outside the State since foodgrains were being sent for their food which was also in the premises of the school and even the services of the cooks of the school were being utilized whatever was unutilized was also kept in the same store due to which more foodgrains have been found upon verification. It was submitted that the petitioner has never been involved in any other criminal case and he is at the last stage of employment and for this allegation he has been placed under suspension and departmental proceeding has also been initiated against him treating it as misconduct 7. Learned APP submitted that the petitioner being the In charge Headmaster was responsible for such irregularities Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.66721 dt.21 08 2021 8. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the case and submissions of learned counsel for the parties in view of the petitioner having constituted a Committee of four teachers as per the guidelines of the District Magistrate Nawadah with regard to distribution of rice under the Mid Day Meal Scheme during the pandemic period and the explanation of the cook with regard to irregularity of two bags of rice being shown with her son having been accepted by the authorities and the petitioner having no past criminal antecedent the Court is inclined to allow the prayer for pre arrest bail 9. Accordingly in the event of arrest or surrender before the Court below within six weeks from today the petitioner be released on bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 25 000 twenty five thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate Nawadah in Rajauli PS Case No. 432 of 2020 subject to the conditions laid down in Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 and further that one of the bailors shall be a close relative of the petitioner andthat the petitioner shall co operate with the Court and police prosecution. Failure to co operate shall lead to cancellation of his bail bonds Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.66721 dt.21 08 2021 10. It shall also be open for the prosecution to bring any violation of the foregoing conditions by the petitioner to the notice of the Court concerned which shall take immediate action on the same after giving opportunity of hearing to the petitioner 11. The petition stands disposed of in the (Ahsanuddin Amanullah J

Summary: The petitioner was taken into custody under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code, “Punishment for criminal breach of trust with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both”, section 420, “Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine”, section 34 IPC, “Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention”. This present petition is in connection with Rajauli PS Case No. 432 of 2020 dated 13.09.2020. In the high court of Judicature at Patna, this judgement was given by honourable Mr Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah on the 21st of August 2021 in the case of Anil Kumar versus the state of Bihar criminal miscellaneous No. 6676 of 2021, Mr Arun Kumar Represented as the advocate for the petitioner, and Mr Anand Mohan represented the state of Bihar as the additional Public Prosecutor, the proceedings of the court were held via video conference. The following are the facts of the case, the petitioner was in charge as the headmaster of the upgraded middle school in Balia, Rajauli, he has been accused due to irregularities under the Mid-day meal scheme. According to the FIR was filed due to a viral video which shows the son of one of the cooks of the school with two bags of rice and the same person was running a Kirana shop in the same village. The counsel representing the petitioner held that the petitioner was only the headmaster of the school and was not directly affiliated with the affairs of the distribution of mid-day schemes during the covid-19 pandemic. The counsel held with respect to the district magistrate guidelines the petitioner appointed four teachers who were responsible for monitoring the distribution of food grains which included the co-accused have been recognized as they were directly involved in the distribution under the mid-day scheme. And even in the viral video the voice of the co-accused has been heard clearly and not the petitioner, actually, the cook asked the son to carry the bags of rice to a cooler storage place because otherwise it would have gone bad due to the sun and that’s why they haven’t been accused in this case.  However, the viral video shows the son of the cook and not the petitioner therefore no such criminal liability can be held against the petitioner. Further, the counsel held that the school was a covid-19 quarantine centre for migrants who were entering the state from a different place and the premises and the cooks of the school for being utilized for the same, unutilized resources was also kept in store. The counsel held that the petitioner is in his last stage of employment and have never been involved in any criminal case and due to this false implication, the petitioner has been suspended and hence the counsel pleaded before the court for bail for the same. The additional public prosecutor held that the petitioner as he is the headmaster was in charge of all the activities that took place in the school directly or indirectly and were therefore also responsible for the irregularities in the distribution of the mid-day meal.