Important Point—Fundamental right of an individual enshrined under Article 21 of Constitution cannot be sacrificed by keeping accused in custody, more particularly, after completion of investigation and filing of charge-sheet.

Pratap Krishna Lohra, J.

1. All these five bail applications by different accused-petitioners are originated from common FIR No. 269/2014 dated 4th of August 2014 registered at Police Station ACB, CPS, Jaipur (Outpost Jodhpur), therefore, all are heard together and disposed by common order.

2. In the FIR aforesaid, all the accused-petitioners, besides main accused Bhanwar Singh Rajpurohit, are charged for offences punishable under Section 13 (1)(c)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and for offences punishable under Sections 467, 468, 471, 477A, 420, 119, 201 & 120B IPC.

3. Briefly stated, the facts are that Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (for short, 'University') initiated process of recruitment for 114 posts of Assistant Professor in various subjects by issuing Advertisement No. 74/2011-12 while prescribing requisite qualification for the post. Similarly, in some of the subjects, recruitment process is also initiated for Associate Professor and Professor prescribing requisite qualification and experience. It appears that some illegality/irregularity surfaced during selection process and therefore preliminary inquiry was conducted wherein it is revealed that eligibility criteria was not adhered to and in some cases aspirants for appointment who acquired qualification for appointment subsequent to the last date were allowed to compete for selection by accepting their documents posterior to the last date of submission of the application forms. That apart, some other infirmities were also noticed during the preliminary inquiry in the recruitment process including the act of favoritism and nepotism and selecting ineligible candidates as per UGC Guidelines while ignoring eligible candidates. Finally, above quoted FIR is registered against six incumbents, i.e., all the five petitioners and the Vice Chancellor of University Mr. Bhanwar Singh Rajpurohit.

4. Feeling aggrieved by registration of FIR at the behest of Vice Chancellor Mr. Bhanwar Singh Rajpurohit and two others, three separate criminal misc. petitions were filed before this Court and by order dated 30th of May 2016 the Court was pleased to allow those petitions and quash the FIR qua them. Subsequently against the order of this Court dated 30th of May 2016, State Government preferred SLP before the Supreme Court wherein at the threshold Supreme Court while staying the order of this Court passed following order on 3rd of October 2016.

"Application for exemption from filing O.T. is allowed.

Issue notice, returnable after four weeks.

In the meantime, three shall be stay of operation of the impugned judgment passed by the High Court.

Investigation may be completed, but without the leave of this Court, no further steps would be taken pursuant thereto in the meantime."

5. Later on during investigation, all the five accused-petitioners and the Vice Chancellor Mr. Bhanwar Singh Rajpurohit were interrogated by the Anti Corruption Bureau and arrested on 15th of January 2017. This sort of situation prompted the Vice Chancellor to approach Supreme Court again for ventilating his grievances against the coercive action taken by the State in defiance of the Court's order. The Supreme Court, after hearing the Attorney General of India and the counsel representing the cause of Mr. Bhanwar Singh Rajpurohit, issued necessary directions to release him immediately, subject to following conditions:

"(1) The respondent shall furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) with two sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial Court.

(2) The respondent shall get his presence marked before the concerned officer-in-charge/S.H.O. of the Police Station twice in a month;

(3) The respondent would produce his latest and full residential address in the concerned Trial Court/Police Station while obtaining bail and he shall not change his address without the prior permission of the Court.

(4) If the respondent is holding a passport, he shall depo