1 McrC No.1307 of 2025 2025:CGHC:13756 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR Order reserved on 19-3-2025 Order delivered on 22-3-2025 MCRC No. 1307 of 2025 1. Shravan Kumar Goyal S/o Late Shri B.P. Goyal Aged About 59 Years R/o Plot No. X116, Phase-I, Swarnbhoomi, Vidhansabha Road Raipur, Chhattisgarh. ... Applicant Versus 1. Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI), Anti-Corruption Branch, Raipur, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh. ... Respondent (Cause title is taken from the Case Information System) For Applicant : Shri Amit Agrawal, Sr. Advocate with Shri Ankit Singhal and Shri Mehal Jethani, Advocates For Respondent/CBI : Shri B. Gopa Kumar, Advocate C A V Order Per Bibhu Datta Guru, J. 1. The applicant has preferred this first bail application under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 20231 for grant of bail as he has been arrested in connection with Crime No.RC1242024A0004 registered at Police Station CBI, Anti Corruption Branch, Raipur, District Raipur (C.G) for the offence punishable under Sections 120B & 420 of the Indian Penal Code2 and Section 12 of the Prevention of 1 henceforth ‘the BNSS’ 2 henceforth ‘the IPC’ 2 McrC No.1307 of 2025 Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018)3 and substantive offences thereof (as per charge sheet). 2. In respect of certain illegalities and irregularities committed by the authorities of the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission4 in the recruitment process, two separate FIRs bearing Crime No.05/2024 of EOW/ACB, Chhattisgarh, Raipur and Crime No. 28/2024 of Arjunda PS, Dist. Balod, Chhattisgarh were registered and subsequently, the matter was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation5. In the case, there were seven accused persons. A-1 Taman Singh Sonwani, the then Chairman of the PSC; A-2 Shravan Kumar Goyal (present applicant), Director of Bajrang Power and Ispat Ltd.; A-3 Shashank Goyal (son of A-2); A-4 Ms. Bhumika Katiyar (Daughter-in-law of A-2); A-5 Nitesh Sonwani & A-6 Sahil Sonwani (both nephews of A-1) and A-7 Lalit Ganvir, Deputy Controller (Examination) of the PSC. 3. Case of the prosecution, in brief, as far as the present applicant - Shravan Kumar Goyal (A-2) is concerned, during the period 2020-2022 the PSC conducted the State Service Examination. At that time, A-1 was the Chairman of the PSC and he gave undue advantage to his family members and the blue-eyed boys. A-2 is the Director of Bajrang Power and Ispat Limited and in that capacity, he used to provide funds to the NGOs under the head of Corporate Social Responsibility6. According to the prosecution, the wife of A-1 is the Chairperson of one Non- 3 henceforth ‘the PC Act’ 4 henceforth ‘the PSC’ 5 henceforth ‘the CBI’ 6 henceforth ‘the CSR’ 3 McrC No.1307 of 2025 Governmental Organisation7 namely; Gramin Vikas Samiti8 and to the said GVS, on two different occasions the applicant gave an amount of Rs.45.00 lacs under the head of CSR. The allegations are that the said amount is provided by A-2 prior to preliminary examination and final examination conducted by the PSC for the State Service Examination, 2021 and in lieu of that, the question papers of preliminary examination and final examination were provided to A-2, who, in turn, provided the same to A-3 & A-4, who are his real son and daughter-in-law, respectively. On the basis of the said question papers, both A-3 & A-4 succeeded in the recruitment process and got selection on the top posts i.e. Deputy Collector. Thus, A-2 committed the offence. 4. (a) Learned senior counsel appearing for the applicant (A-2) would submit that the applicant is an innocent person and has been falsely implicated. He would submit that the applicant is a businessman and he has no concern with the affairs of the PSC. He bona fidely and as per the provisions of the Companies Act rendered financial assistance to the GVS, which is a NGO under the head of CSR. According to the learned counsel on 08/11/2021, GVS sought financial help under the CSR head and considering the said request, the CSR Committee of Bajrang Ispat Limited convened a meeting on 01/01/2022 and sanctioned an amount of Rs.24.85 lacs to GVS for undertaking rural development program in Raipur and Hahadaddi, which was duly approved by the Board of Directors9 on 05/01/2022. On the basis of approval of BoD, an amount 7 henceforth ‘NGO’ 8 henceforth ‘GVS’ 9 henceforth ‘the BoD’ 4 McrC No.1307 of 2025 of Rs.20.00 lacs was paid to GVS on 01/03/2022. In the meantime, on 26/11/2021, the PSC advertised 171 posts of State Civil Services Examination, 2021. Thereafter, the preliminary examination was conducted on 13/02/2022, and the result was published on 08/03/2022. (b) Learned counsel would submit that again GVS sought financial help on 04/04/2022, which was placed before the CSR Committee and the BoD, wherein an amount of Rs.35.03 lacs sanctioned to be given to the rightful beneficiary. Pursuant to the said resolution, on 18/05/2022, an amount of Rs.25.00 lacs was transferred to GVS through RTGS. He would submit that the final examination of PSC was held during the period 26/05/2022 to 29/05/2022, wherein 509 candidates were qualified for interview and accordingly, the interview was conducted from 20th September to 30th September, 2022 and the final result was declared on 11/05/2023, wherein the son (A-3) and daughter-in-law (A-4) of A-2 were declared successful for the post of Deputy Collector. Thereafter, two FIRs were lodged alleging the irregularities and illegalities committed by the PSC at different police stations which was subsequently transferred to the CBI. (c) Learned counsel would submit that the financial assistance rendered by the company of A-2 under the head of CSR to GVS, as per the statute, has been connected with the examination conducted by the PSC. He would submit that the CSR meeting chaired by Smt. Harsha Rungta and A-2 and one Jayata prakash Agrawal are the members of the said committee. Even, the resolution passed by the CSR committee has 5 McrC No.1307 of 2025 duly been approved by the BoD, therefore, it cannot be said that only to get undue advantage in favour of his son and daughter-in-law in the examination conducted by the PSC, A-2 rendered the financial assistance to GVS. In fact, A-2 has never siphoned the amount to the PSC whereas, they provided the funds to the GVS for various construction and development activities as has been provided under Schedule VII Section 135 of the Companies Act. (d) Learned counsel would next submit that from the statement of Arun Kumar Dwivedi who has printed question papers of the preliminary and final examinations at Kolkata (West Bengal) and they sent the question papers to the PSC directly and handed over to Ms Arti Washnik, Controller of the Examination, PSC, who has not been made as accused. According to the learned senior counsel, there is no memorandum of A-1 & A-7. He would submit that A-3 & A-4 are brilliant and duly qualified persons and as such there is no occasion for them to take undue advantage of alleged leaked question papers of the PSC. He would submit that in the present case, the charge-sheet has already been filed on 16/01/2025 and the conclusion of the trial will take a long time for its conclusion as there were several witnesses. The applicant is in jail since 18/11/2024 and suffering from several ailments and is taking treatment regularly. The applicant is a most reputed business man and there is no criminal antecedents against him. He would pray that the applicant may be enlarged on bail. 6 McrC No.1307 of 2025 5. Learned counsel appearing for the CBI, per contra, would oppose the bail application. He would submit that the alleged financial assistance provided by Bajrang Ispat under the CSR head to GVS for the purpose of construction/extension is not sustainable because as per Section 135 of the Schedule-VII of the Companies Act, the construction/extension is not applicable. In fact, the funds given under the CSR head are siphoned to the personal pockets of the officials of the PSC and their family members. Learned counsel would submit that the brother of A-1 namely; Anil Kumar Sonwani, who is the Secretary of GVS, has categorically stated that the question papers brought for A-5 & A-6 (nephews of this witness and A-1), were provided by A-7, under the instruction of A-1, to A-2 for onward sharing of the same to A-3 & A-4. The said witness categorically accepted receipt of payment of Rs.20.00 lacs and Rs.25.00 lacs on 02/03/2022 & 18/05/2022, respectively under the CSR head from Barjang Ispat Limited. Learned counsel would further submit that by concealing the actual facts, A-2 misguided the Chairperson and other Member of the CSR committee as also the BoD and obtained recommendation for providing financial assistance to GVS in a fraudulent manner. Thus, the applicant (A-2) is not entitled for bail and the bail application may be rejected. 6. I have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties at length and also gone through the charge sheet, which has been placed before this Court. 7. From bare perusal of the charge sheet and the statement of brother of A-1 namely; Anil Kumar Sonwani, Secretary of GVS, it is quite vivid that 7 McrC No.1307 of 2025 A-2 has close links with some high and mighty officials of the PSC, as the wife, brother and nephew (A-5) of A-1 (the then Chairman of the PSC), were the Chairperson, Secretary and Member, respectively of the NGO i.e. GVS. In the name of GVS, A-2 obtained financial approval from the CSR and BoD of Bajrang Ispat and thereafter the same has been siphoned to the family members of A-1 prior to preliminary and final examination of PSC and on the basis of the same he succeeded in obtaining question papers for onward providing the same to his son and daughter-in-law, who got selected on the post of Deputy Collectors. 8. A person who indulges in facilitating leakage of question paper relating to competitive examinations, plays with the career and future of lacs of young aspirants, who are ‘burning the midnight oil’ to prepare for competitive exams. Such an act is more heinous than an offence of murder because by killing a person, only one family gets affected but by ruining the career of lacs of aspirants whole society is adversely impacted. Therefore, the alleged charges levelled against the accused persons including the present applicant can by no stretch of imagination be termed as ordinary charges. The action of the accused persons is clear example of ‘fence eating the crop’. 9. Having considered the entire facts and circumstances of the case, particularly considering the seriousness of allegations levelled against the applicant and also considering the statement of brother of A-1 namely; Anil Kumar Sonwani, who categorically stated that the question paper leaked for A-5 & A-6, who are nephews of this witness and A-1, 8 McrC No.1307 of 2025 and the said question papers also provided to A-2 by A-7, under the instruction of A-1, for onward supply to A-3 & A-4, who are son and daughter-in-law of A-2, respectively and on the basis of the same the couple got selected for the post of Deputy Collectors, prima facie, this Court is of the considered opinion that present is not a fit case to grant bail to the applicant (A-2). 10. As a sequel, the present bail application is rejected. Sd/ (Bibhu Datta Guru) Judge Gowri K GOWRI SANKARA RAO Digitally signed by K GOWRI SANKARA RAO Date: 2025.03.22 14:45:26 +0530