Point of Law: Grant of Bail - Bail is a right of any accused and jail is exception.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Sri Imran Ullah, assisted by Sri Mohd. Khalid, Sri Qamrul Hasan Siddiqui, Sri Safdar Ali Qazmi, learned counsel for the applicant; Sri Syed Farman Ahmad Naqvi, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Syed Ahmad Faizan, Sri Zaheer Asghar, Sri Taqi Abidi, Sri Sharad Sharma and Ms. Anjum Fatima, learned counsel appearing for the informant and Sri M.C. Chaturvedi, learned Additional Advocate General, assisted by Sri Jai Narain Varshney, Sri Patanjali Mishra, Sri Abhijeet Mukherjee, learned Additional Government Advocates appearing for the State. Perused the record.

2. The pleadings have been exchanged between the parties, the matter was heard at length on previous occasion and the order was reserved to be dictated in the Chamber, meanwhile, learned A.G.A. on 28/29th April, 2022 made a mention in the Court, in the presence of learned counsel for the applicant, that on account of certain recent developments, touching the core issue, have cropped up during intervening period, and thus, requested to bring on record those fresh developments by filing a supplementary affidavit. With the consent of learned counsels of the applicant, the matter was reopened and after the exchange of affidavits, on 5.5.2022, heard marathon arguments advanced to the satisfaction of counsels of both the sides and after having the written submissions from the contesting parties, judgment was reserved to be pronounced in the second week of May, 2022.

3. This bail application has been filed on behalf of Mohammad Azam Khan, the applicant after his second bail application was rejected by learned Special Judge (M.P./M.L.A.)/Additional Sessions Judge, Court No.4, Rampur vide order dated 4.8.2021.

4. The applicant Mohd. Azam Khan, who deserves no introduction, at one point of time was a political heavyweight of the then ruling party of the State of U.P., presently Member of Parliament from Rampur Loksabha constituency and Chancellor of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University (established by U.P. Act No.19 of 2006), is facing a prosecution in Case Crime No.312 of 2019, u/s 420, 467, 468, 471, 447, 201, 120-B I.P.C. and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, Police Station-Azeem Nagar, District-Rampur. He is behind the bars in connection with aforesaid offence since 26.02.2020 and seeking bail during trial.

STORY AS NARRATED IN FIR

5. Coming to the merits of the case, which ignites from lodging of the F.I.R. by one Sri Allama Zamir Naqvi, a self proclaimed public spirited person, by moving an application addressed to the D.G.P., Luckow on 29.7.2019, and as such, the present F.I.R. came into existence against nine named accused persons including the applicant, his wife Tanzim Fatima and son Abdullah Azam along with six others on 19.8.2019.

6. I have keenly perused the contents of the F.I.R. and for the sake of brevity the bulky F.I.R. is reduced to following points:

(a) The land in dispute relates to one Mr. Imamuddin Quereshi s/o late Badruddeen Qureshi, permanent resident of Lucknow. This gentleman belonged to ‘Sunni Sect’ of Muslim religion (Backward Class), Kasai/Qureshi community, who after the partition, relinquished the citizenship of India and migrated to Pakistan during 1947-49 and since then turned a citizen of Pakistan. As per the provisions of Section -8 of “The Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950” the property left by Imamuddin Qureshi was declared as Evacuee Property and deemed to have been vested with the ‘Custodian’ of the State, as per legal implication.

(b) The property left by Imamuddin Qureshi contains one room and an Imambara situated at Village -Singhan Khera, Pargana and Tehsil Sadar, Rampur, having pucca Raqba 86 beegha, 2 biswa and as per notification issued by the Government of India 1962 and 1971, in all 45 gatas, ad-measuring area 13.842 hectares of agricultural land got endorsed and vested with the government, as per Section 5 of Enemy Property Act, 1968.

(c) In fact, this landed property ad-measuring