Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:109034 Court No. - 82 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 11159 of 2025 Applicant :- Ved Prakash Dubey Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Ravi Prakash Pandey Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Sameer Jain,J. 1. Heard Sri I.K. Chaturvedi, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Ravi Prakash Pandey, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Pradeep Kumar, learned AGA for the State-respondent. 2. The instant application has been filed seeking release of the applicant on bail in Case Crime No. 01 of 2025, under Section 7 Prevention of Corruption Act, Police Station- Anti Corruption Basti, District- Basti, during pendency of the trial in the court below. 3. Learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of applicant submitted that applicant is Lekhpal and as per allegation, he made demand of bribe of Rs. 10,000/- from the complainant for the purpose to mutate his name in the revenue record on the basis of succession and thereafter he was apprehended red handed by the trap-team while he was receiving bribe from the complainant but entire allegation levelled against the applicant is totally false. 4. He further submitted that when complainant moved an application for mutation on the basis of succession then applicant submitted a report on 09.02.2025 that as matter relates to Will, therefore, mutation cannot be made on the basis of succession and Tehsildar concerned also made similar observation and on 10.02.2025 dismissed the application filed by complainant and this fact is evident from Annexure No.5 to the affidavit. He further submitted that as on the report of the applicant dated 09.02.2025, application of complainant had been dismissed, therefore, he became very annoyed with the applicant and falsely implicated him in the present matter with the connivance of trap-team on 13.02.2025. 5. He further submitted that as applicant had already denied for mutation on 09.02.2025, therefore, there was absolutely no occasion for him to make demand of bribe from the complainant and there was also no reason for the complainant to give bribe to him. 6. He further submitted that trap was made in the premises of Tehsil but from the record, it reflects, recovery memo and other documents have not been prepared at spot rather the same have been prepared at police station and this fact casts serious doubt on the entire trap proceedings. 7. He further submitted that service record of the applicant is unblemished and he is not having any criminal history and he is in jail in the present matter since 14.02.2025 i.e. for last almost five months. 8. Per contra, learned AGA opposed the prayer for bail and submitted that applicant was arrested red handed by the trap-team while he was receiving bribe from the complainant but could not dispute the other argument on facts advanced by learned counsel for the applicant. 9. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record of the case. 10. However, applicant was Lekhpal and as per allegation, he made demand of bribe from the complainant for the purpose of mutation and thereafter he was apprehended red handed by the trap-team but it reflects, well before the trap i.e. on 09.02.2025 applicant had already submitted his report that as instant matter relates to Will, therefore, it is not possible to mutate the name of the complainant on the basis of succession and thereafter on 10.02.2025 similar observation was made by the Tehsildar concerned and application of the complainant had been dismissed. Considering this fact, the argument advanced by learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of applicant with regard to his false implication, cannot be completely ruled out at this stage. 11. Further, record also suggests that trap was made by the trap team in the premises of Tehsil but recovery memo and other documents have not been prepared at spot rather the same have been prepared at police station. This Court finds merit in the argument advanced by learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of applicant that this casts serious doubt on the entire trap proceedings. 12. Further, service record of the applicant is unblemished and he is not having any criminal history and he is in jail in the present matter since 14.02.2025 i.e. for last almost five months. 13. Further, law is settled, unless proven guilty, an accused is deemed to be innocent and bail application of an accused should not be dismissed for punitive purpose. 14. Therefore, considering the facts and circumstances of the case discussed above, in my view applicant is entitled to be released on bail. 15. Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the instant bail application is allowed. 16. Let the applicant- Ved Prakash Dubey 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. 17. 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. 18. 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 :- 8.7.2025 KK Patel Digitally signed by :- KRISHN KANT PATEL High Court of Judicature at Allahabad