Judgment

Sanjay Dhar, J.—Through the medium of the instant petition, petitioner has sought bail in anticipation of his arrest in case FIR No. 83/2020 for offences under Sections 420/418/409 IPC registered with the Police Station, Sunderbani, Rajouri.

2. The facts giving rise to the filing of the instant petition are that the aforesaid FIR came to be registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the employer of the petitioner i.e. J&K Bank through its Manager, Mr. Ashutosh Gupta, wherein it was alleged that the petitioner had withdrawn an amount of Rs.37,63,838/- from various account holders of the Bank during his tenure in the J&K Bank, Branch Suderbani with an intention to commit fraud and criminal breach of trust as a Banker for his wrongful gain and wrongful loss to the Bank and its customers. On the basis of the aforesaid complaint, a FIR No. 93/2020 for offences under Sections 409/418/420 IPC came to be registered with Police Station, Sunderbani.

3. It has been contended by the petitioner that he has been falsely implicated in the case; that though, the petitioner was placed under suspension on 11.12.2019, but his employer i.e. J&K Bank remained silent for a considerable period of time which creates a doubt about the story projected by the Bank; that the investigation of the case is complete and, therefore, there is no question of the petitioner hampering the investigation; that rigor of Sub-section (1) of Section 437 of Cr.P.C. is not applicable to the case of the petitioner; that the bail should not be denied to the petitioner as a measure of inflicting punishment upon him and that the petitioner will abide by all the conditions that may be imposed by this Court if he is enlarged on bail.

4. The application has been resisted by the respondent by filing its reply thereto. In its reply, the respondent has submitted that the petitioner has fraudulently withdrawn an amount of Rs.37,63,838/- from the J&K Bank during his tenure as an employee of the said Bank at Sunderbani. According to the respondent, a Special Investigating Team headed by SDPO, Nowshera has been constituted to investigate the case and during the course of investigation, it was found that the petitioner, who was an employee of the J&K Bank, misused his official position and fraudulently withdrew an amount of Rs. 37,63,838/- from the accounts of different account holders, thereby causing wrongful loss to the Bank and its customers due to which the faith of general public in the Banking institution and its employees has been shattered. It is further averred that the Court of learned Additional Sessions Judge, Rajouri has already dismissed the anticipatory bail application of the petitioner and thereafter efforts were made to secure his presence by making a request in this regard to the Managing Director of J&K Bank, but the petitioner did not bother to attend the investigation. It is also averred that efforts have been made to arrest the petitioner from his residence and other places, but he has remained untraced and that he is deliberately evading arrest. The respondent in its reply has given the details of the efforts which have been made to apprehend the petitioner which includes the procuring of warrant of arrest under Section 73 of Cr.P.C against the petitioner from the Court of learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Sunderbani. According to the respondent, offences under Sections 409/418/420 IPC stand established against the petitioner.

5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material on record.

6. Primarily, the learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that offence under Section 409 IPC is not made out against the petitioner even if the allegations made in the police report are taken at their face value. The learned counsel has vehemently contended that the relationship between a Banker and its employees is not in the nature of a trust as the money deposited by the customers in the Bank can be utilized by the Bank in the