Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:47107 Court No. - 13 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 438 CR.P.C. No. - 32 of 2025 Applicant :- Pankaj Kumar Singh And 2 Others Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home U.P. Lko. Counsel for Applicant :- Sourabh Rastogi,Sudhir Kumar Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Avinash Tripathi Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi,J. 1. Heard Shri Sourabh Rastogi, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the applicants as well as Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, learned A.G.A.-I appearing on behalf of the State, Shri R.K. Srivastava, Advocate holding brief of Shri Avinash Tripathi, learned counsel for the complainant and perused the records. 2. The instant application has been filed by the applicant seeking anticipatory bail in F.I.R./Case Crime No.0321 of 2023, under Section 409 I.P.C., registered at Police Station- Ashiana, District- Lucknow. 3. The applicants were granted interim anticipatory bail be means of the following order passed on 20.02.2025: "Sri Avinash Tripathi, Advocate, has put in appearance by way of filing Vakalatnama on behalf of the complainant and the same is taken on record. Office is directed to print the name of Sri Avinash Tripathi, Advocate, as counsel for the complainant, when the case is listed next. Heard learned counsel for the applicant,Sri Avinash Tripathi, learned counsel for the complainant, learned AGA for the State and perused the record. The instant anticipatory bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant with the prayer to release him on anticipatory bail in Case Crime No. 0321 of 2023, under section 409 of the IPC, Police Station- Ashiana, District-Lucknow. The instant first information report has been lodged against the applicant for committing cheat and fraud while misappropriating the amount of Rs. 15,13,876/-, whereas the same could not be repaid back or in the other words the performance of the agreement could not be honoured, but, now the applicant is ready to either repay back the said amount or to transfer the plot in question to the complainant. Prima-facie, there seems to be a bonafide request of the applicant. On query being asked to the learned counsel for the complainant, he has opposed the matter on merits, but, he submits that if the applicant is ready to repay back the amount or to transfer the plot in question of the same amount to the complainant, his client has no objections. In view of the aforesaid, the matter is remitted to the Mediation and Conciliation Centre of this court. The Mediation and Conciliation Centre shall issue notice to the parties fixing some date for mediation and shall make all possible efforts to conclude the mediation and conciliation proceedings expeditiously, preferably within a period of three months. List after expiry of aforesaid period before the appropriate Bench along with the report of Mediation Centre. Accordingly, till the next date of listing, the present applicants- Pankaj Kumar Singh, Sunil Kumar Tripathi and Suresh Kumar Singh, shall be released forthwith, in case of their arrest, in the aforesaid case crime (supra) on an interim anticipatory bail on their furnishing a personal bond and two solvent sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned. It is provided that if the applicants would deviate to appear before the Mediation and Conciliation Centre, the matter shall immediately be listed before this court." 4. The matter was referred to the Mediation and Conciliation Centre of this Court and the Mediation Centre in its report dated 22.07.2025 has stated that the mediation stands completed but the parties could not arrive at any settlement. 5. The learned counsels for the parties have stated that no useful purpose will be served by referral of the matter to the Mediation Centre again. 6. Therefore, the Court proceeds to decide the anticipatory bail application on its merits. 7. The aforesaid case has been registered on the basis of an F.I.R. lodged on 27.07.2023 against the applicants stating that the informant had given Rs.7,54,938/- to Estone Infratech Company through a cheque in the year 2019 and in return, he was issued a cheque of Rs.15,13,876/- after three years but the accused persons sought additional time of nine months for repaying the money. 8. The informant has stated in the F.I.R. that his money may be returned to him. 9. The aforesaid averments made in the F.I.R. make it manifest that the informant has taken recourse to the criminal justice system for recovery of money which essentially is a dispute of civil nature. 10. The applicant was granted anticipatory bail by means of the above mentioned order dated 20.02.2025 and the learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that the applicants have already furnished bail bonds in compliance of the aforesaid order. 11. The learned A.G.A. does not allege any misuse of liberty of interim anticipatory bail granted to the applicants. 12. Having considered the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the view that the aforesaid facts are sufficient for making out a case for granting anticipatory bail to the applicants. 13. In view of the above, the anticipatory bail application of the applicants are allowed. 14. The interim order dated 20.02.2025 is made absolute with the following conditions: (i) that the applicants shall make themselves available for interrogation by a police officer as and when required; (ii) that the applicants shall not directly or indirectly make any 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 to any police officer or tamper with the evidence; (iii) that the applicants shall not leave India without the previous permission of the court. (iv) that the applicants shall appear before the trial court on each date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted; and (v) that the applicants shall not pressurize/ intimidate the prosecution witness. Order Date :- 12.8.2025 S. Shivhare Digitally signed by :- SHASHANK SHIVHARE High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench