Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:135172 Court No. - 82 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 39174 of 2024 Applicant :- Dhiraj Kumar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Abhinav Gaur,Ankit Shukla,Mohd. Rashid Siddiqui,Rajan Mishra,Sr. Advocate Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Sameer Jain,J. 1. Heard Sri V.P. Srivastava, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Sri Rajan Mishra, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Rajeev Dhar Dwivedi, learned AGA, for the State. 2. The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant with the prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No.09 of 2024 of Police Station Anti Corruption, Meerut, District Anti Corruption Organization, Uttar Pradesh and registered as Case Crime No. 4001 of 2024, under Sections 13(2), 13(1)(b) and Section 7 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Police Station Civil Line, District Meerut during pendency of the trial. 3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that applicant was posted as Junior Engineer in Rural Engineering Department, Meerut and as per allegation, firm of the father of the complainant was contractor firm and the amount of Rs.5,44,652/- was due upon the department and for releasing the amount, applicant was making demand of bribe from the complainant and, thereafter, he was arrested red handed on 16.07.2024 while, he was receiving bribe of Rs.Forty Thousand but entire allegations levelled against the applicant are totally false. 4. He further submits that actually from the department of the applicant, on 25.06.2024, the request to release the amount of Rs.5,44,652/- to the firm of the complainant had been made and this fact is evident from page 138 of the paper book and, therefore, there was absolutely no occasion either for applicant to make demand of bribe or for complainant to give bribe money to him. 5. He next submits that actually firm of the complainant did not fulfill its work as per the contract and, therefore, several complaints in this regard were lodged by the applicant against the complainant and his father since the year 2018, which have been annexed as Annexure -3 to the affidavit and only due to the complaint made by the applicant, he has been made accused in the present matter by the complainant with the connivance of Trap Team. 6. He further submits that applicant is not having any previous criminal antecedents to his credit and he is in jail in the present matter since 16.07.2024, i.e, for the last more than a year. 7. Per contra, learned AGA opposed the prayer for bail and submits that applicant being public servant misused his position and he not only made demand of bribe from the complainant but he was also apprehended red handed while he was receiving bribe money of Rs.Forty Thousand from him but could not dispute the fact that as per allegation, applicant was making demand of bribe from the complainant to release the fund of Rs.5,44,652/- and thereafter, he was arrested red handed on 16.07.2024 but even before that on 25.06.2024, Executive Engineer of the department of the applicant had already cleared the amount of the firm of the complainant. 8. Learned AGA further could not dispute the fact that in the year 2018 and, thereafter, applicant lodged several complaints against the firm of the complainant. 9. He further could not dispute the fact that applicant is not having any previous criminal history to his credit and he is in jail since 16.07.2024 i.e. for last more than a year. 10. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record of the case. 11. However, as per allegation, applicant was posted as Junior Engineer in Rural Engineering Department and he made demand of bribe of Rs. Forty Thousand from the complainant and he was also allegedly arrested red handed by the Trap Team on 16.07.2024 while he was receiving bribe of Rs. Forty Thousand from the complainant but record suggest that as per complainant, applicant was making demand of bribe to release the fund of Rs.5,44,652/- and from page 138 of the paper book it reflects the department of the applicant had already cleared the alleged amount. Considering this fact, the argument advanced by the learned counsel for the applicant that there was absolutely no occasion either for the applicant to make demand of bribe or for the complainant to give bribe to the applicant cannot be ruled out at this stage. 12. Further, from the paper book, it reflects before the Trap, applicant made several complaints against the firm of the complainant. 13. Further, applicant is not having any previous criminal history to his credit and applicant is in jail in the present matter since 16.07.2024 i.e. for last more than a year. 14. Further, law is settled that unless proven guilty, an accused is deemed to be innocent and bail application of an accused should not be dismissed for punitive purpose. 15. Therefore, considering the facts and circumstances of the case discussed above, in my view, applicant is entitled to be released on bail. 16. Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the instant bail application is allowed. 17. Let the applicant- Dhiraj Kumar be released on bail in the aforesaid case on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:- (i) The applicant shall appear before the trial court on the dates fixed, unless his personal presence is exempted. (ii) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or any police officer or tamper with the evidence. (iii) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal and anti-social activity. 18. In case of breach of any of the above condition, the prosecution will be at liberty to move an application before this Court for cancellation of the bail of the applicant. 19. It is clarified that the observations made herein are limited to the facts brought in by the parties pertaining to the disposal of bail application and the said observations shall have no bearing on the merits of the case during trial. Order Date :- 11.8.2025 Priya Digitally signed by :- PRIYA KUSHWAHA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad