The seriousness of the offence, the public interest, and the risk of the petitioner tampering with evidence or fleeing from justice were central to the court's decision.

JUDGMENT :

JASGURPREET SINGH PURI, J.

1. The present petition has been filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for grant of regular bail to the petitioner in case FIR No.222 dated 19.8.2020 under Sections 489-A, 489-B, 489-C, 489-D, 34 IPC registered at Police Station City, Hoshiarpur, District Hoshiarpur.

2. As per the allegations which have been contained in the FIR the Inspector, Police Station Hoshiarpur was given a secret information by some informer that four persons are sitting on scooters in the dark opposite to Tagore Park in the choe area and were talking about the printing of fake currency notes and circulating them in the market and it was further informed that they were working together as a group and in case raid is conducted they can be apprehended and the racket can be exposed which deals with the supply of currency notes in the market.

3. Thereafter, raid was conducted and it was seen that four persons were sitting on two Activa scooters who were suddenly surrounded and apprehended. Thereafter, their names were asked and on asking they told their names as Gursimranjit Singh alias Baba alias Sodhi, Jagtar Singh, Harjinder Bharti (petitioner) and Amrinder Singh Suraj. It is further stated in the FIR that before conducting their search the police tried to join the witnesses from the public but due to the curfew at 9:00 p.m. no witness from public could be joined and at that time government vehicle was also called at the spot who started the search as per rules. Thereafter, fake currency notes of Rs.200/- denomination were recovered from the right pocket of a capri worn by Gursimranjit Singh alias Baba alias Sodhi.

4. After counting they came to be 100 i.e. total Rs.20,000/-. Then fake currency notes of Rs.500/- denomination were recovered from the right pocket of pajama worn by Amrinder Singh Suraj and after counting they came to be 100 i.e. Rs.50,000/-. Then fake currency notes of Rs.500/- denomination were recovered from the right pocket of pant worn by Jagtar Singh and after counting they came out to be 100 i.e. Rs.50,000/- and then fake currency notes of Rs.200/- denomination were recovered from the right pocket of pant worn by Harjidner Bharti (petitioner) and after counting they came to be 100 i.e. Rs.20,000/-. When they were asked about the fake currency notes recovered from them they said that Amrinder Singh Suraj is their boss and he prints fake currency notes at his home and he has kept a modern printer and laptop to print them. He also told that he has fake currency notes at his home. Harjinder Bharti (petitioner) also admitted that he also prepares fake currency notes with the help of modern printer at his home and he also has fake currency notes at his home and he can get them recovered. They also told that since the lockdown, they also supplied fake currency notes worth Rs.15 lacs in the market. Different currency notes were recovered from all of them and Activa scooters without number were also taken into possession.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner was falsely implicated in the present case at the instance of the police. He submitted that his custody has been going on since 19.8.2020 which is about 10 months and the challan has also been presented on 17.11.2020 but the charges have not been yet framed and, therefore, the petitioner should be considered for the grant of regular bail. He further submitted that the petitioner is not involved in any other case and, therefore, considering the custody period of the petitioner he may be considered for the grant of regular bail.

6. Per contra in defence, learned Deputy Advocate General, Punjab has vehemently opposed the grant of regular bail to the petitioner.

7. He has submitted that although the challan in the present case stands presented on 17.11.2020 but the charges could not be framed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictive functioning of the Courts. He submitted that the present petitio