Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Making Extortion Calls Impersonating Himself As UP CMO Official

The Allahabad High Court last week granted bail to one Pradeep Kumar Srivastava who has been accused of making extortion phone calls impersonating himself as an official of the Chief Minister.

The Bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot granted bail to Srivastava (in jail since May 2021) who has been booked under sections 384, 420, 170, 189, 419, 467, 468, 471 IPC accusing him of making extortionist demand to the informant in the instant case.

Earlier, the bail application of the applicant was rejected by Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Bareilly in September 2021 and therefore, he moved to the High Court. 

It was argued on behalf of the applicant that he had been falsely implicated in the instant case and that he did not make the phone call in impersonating as an official of the Hon'ble Chief Minister.

It was also submitted that the mobile phone disclosed in the F.I.R. does not belong to the applicant and that there is no evidence to connect the applicant in regard to the extortionist demand made to the informant.

Lastly, the Counsel for the applicant explained the criminal history of the applicant and contended that the same has no bearing on the instant case.

Noting that A.G.A could not satisfactorily dispute the submissions from the record, the Court finding merits in the submissions of the counsel for the applicant, held that he was entitled to be enlarged on bail.

With this, the Court directed that applicant-Pradeep Kumar Srivastava be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court.

Recently, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to a man named Salman @ Arman Chaudhary who allegedly called on the emergency services number of Uttar Pradesh Police and threatened to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Allegedly, the bail applicant had stated on the call that on account of their (PM and CM) public statements, he wanted to kill them and go to jail. Based upon the said averments, an investigation was carried out, and the mobile number allegedly used was recovered from the applicant.

Case title - Pradeep Kumar Srivastava v. State of U.P.

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