Filing An Anticipatory Bail Application During Pendency Of Regular Bail Plea Is Misuse Of Process Of Court: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court last week observed that filing an anticipatory bail application, while there being a regular bail application pending, is a misuse of the process of the Court.
The bench of Justice Krishan Pahal observed thus while rejecting an anticipatory bail plea filed by one Banti Sharma, booked under Sections 420, 406 IPC for allegedly usurping the money of several persons.
The bench noted that the accused-applicant had, before filing the anticipatory bail plea before the HC, moved two applications under Section 482 of CrPC and a revision application under Section 397 of CrPC, and had failed in all of them.
The Court also noted that he filed an anticipatory bail application before the Sessions Judge, Aligarh while his regular bail application was pending before the court concerned and when that particular anticipatorybail plea was rejected, he moved the HC with the instant petition.
Observing that the accused-applicant has been filing multiple applications and petitions at various forums including the High Court, the Court called his acts a classic example of forum shopping and stressed that the same cannot be permitted to keep on going so eternally.
With this, his anticipatory bail was rejected.
Essentially, Accused-applicant was allegedly working as a supervisor in a company when he was accused of usurping money of several people who had deposited their money with him to purchase policy bonds of the said company and therefore, he was booked under offences of Cheating and Criminal Breach of Trust.
Opposing his anticipatory bail plea, the counsel for the state argued that he had already moved two pleas under Section 482 CrPC and one plea under 397 CrPC before the HC and all three of his pleas had been dismissed.
It was further submitted that a local court had already issued an NBW against the accused applicant in November last year as he is not appearing before the court concerned and that he had moved an anticipatory bail plea while his regular bail plea was pending before the Court concerned, and this was just a misuse of process of Court and law.
Case title - Banti Sharma Alias Brahm Prakash Sharma vs. State Of U.P. And Another [CRIMINAL MISC ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 438 CR.P.C. No. - 11952 of 2023]
Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 418