HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL MISC. ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 482 BNSS No. - 9217 of 2026 Court No. - 72 HON'BLE VIVEK KUMAR SINGH, J. 1. Supplementary affidavit filed today is taken on record. 2. Heard learned counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A for the State and perused the record. 3. The present application has been filed on behalf of the applicant in Case Crime No. 32 of 2019, under Sections 409, 120B IPC, Police Station E.O.W., District Meerut, with a prayer to grant him anticipatory bail. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is absolutely innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. He has nothing to do with the alleged offence in spite of that the police are trying to arrest the applicant. It is further submitted that the alleged incident had taken place between 25.6.2013 and 10.7.2017, whereas the first information report was lodged after more than two years on 1.8.2019. The delay in lodging the first information report has not been satisfactorily explained by the prosecution. As per the allegations levelled in the first information report the applicant's company received some amount from several persons to provide them loan from the bank. They received the amount from the innocent persons in the name of processing fees and taxes. It is further submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that the money received from them has been returned. He has drawn attention of this Court to the statements of Abhishek Kumar, Smt. Suman Gupta, Smt. Sita Devi, Smt. Mandavi Devi, Smt. Sita Devi and several others, who stated that they have received the amount from one Om Prakash. Statement of Om Prakash was recorded during the course of investigation, who stated that the amount of Rs. 2,73,579/- has been returned Versus Counsel for Applicant(s) : Devi Prasad Tripathi, Sanjay Tiwari Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A. Murad Ali .....Applicant(s) State of U.P. and Another .....Opposite Party(s) by the company, which has been disbursed among aggrieved persons. It is further submitted that the applicant has criminal antecedents of three cases, which have been explained in paragraph no.2 of the supplementary affidavit. The police did not try to arrest him for the past seven years and now police are trying to arrest the applicant. Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the applicant undertakes to cooperate during investigation and trial and shall appear as and when required by the Investigating Agency or the Court concerned. It has also been stated that, in case the applicant is granted anticipatory bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail, shall cooperate with the investigation, and shall abide by all the conditions that may be imposed by the Court. 5. On the other hand, learned A.G.A. has opposed the application for anticipatory bail, however, he does not dispute the factual aspect. 6. I have heard the rival submissions of both sides and perused the record. 7. In Sushila Aggarwal and others vs. State (NCT of Delhi) and another, (2020) 5 SCC 1, the Hon'ble Apex Court has held that while considering an application for grant of anticipatory bail, the court has to consider the nature of the offence, the role of the person, the likelihood of his influencing the course of investigation, or tampering with evidence including intimidating witnesses, likelihood of fleeing justice, such as leaving the country, etc. It has further been held that Courts ought to be generally guided by considerations such as the nature and gravity of the offences, the role attributed to the applicant, and the facts of the case, while considering whether to grant anticipatory bail, or refuse it. Whether to grant or not is a matter of discretion. 8. In Siddharth Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh & Another, (2022) 1 Supreme Court Cases 676, the Hon'ble Apex Court has held that personal liberty is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate. The occasion to arrest an accused during investigation arises when custodial investigation becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or where there is a possibility of influencing the witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made. A distinction must be made between the existence of the power to arrest and the justification for exercise of it. If arrest is made routine, it can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person. If the NABAIL No. 9217 of 2026 2 Investigating Officer has no reason to believe that the accused will abscond or disobey summons and has, in fact, throughout cooperated with the investigation, then there is no compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused. 9. Considering the settled principle of law regarding anticipatory bail, submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, nature of accusation, role of applicant and all attending facts and circumstances of the case, without expressing any opinion on merits, a case for anticipatory bail is made out. 10. Accordingly, the anticipatory bail application is allowed with following directions:- (i) In the event of arrest of the applicant- Murad Ali, involved in the aforesaid case, he shall be released on anticipatory bail till the conclusion of trial, on his furnishing a personal bond of Rs.50,000/- with two sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Station House Officer of the police station concerned or to the court concerned; (ii) The applicant shall co-operate with the Investigating Officer during investigation and shall report to the Investigating Officer as and when required for the purpose of conducting investigation; (iii) The applicant 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; and (iv) The applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the Court. 11. In default or misuse of any of the conditions, the Public Prosecutor/ Investigating Officer/ first informant-complainant is at liberty to file appropriate application for cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to the applicant, before the concerned court. (Vivek Kumar Singh,J.) September 29, 2026 Radhika NABAIL No. 9217 of 2026 3 Digitally signed by :- RADHIKA VISHWAKARMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad