The main legal point established in the judgment is that the court considered the civil nature of the dispute, the filing of a company petition, and the absence of misuse of anticipatory bail in granting the applicants' request for anticipatory bail.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Sri. Anoop Trivedi Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Vikas Tiwari and Sri. Nadeem Murtaza Advocates, the learned counsel for the applicants, Sri Anurag Verma, the learned AGA-I appearing for the State, Dr L.P. Misra and Sri Prafulla Tiwari Advocates, the learned counsel for the informant.

2. The instant application has been filed seeking anticipatory bail in F.I.R. No. 898 of 2021, under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC, lodged on 15.11.2021 in Police Station Gomti Nagar, District Lucknow against six named persons, including the applicants, stating that the informant is a Director and share holder of Piscesia Power Transmission Pvt. Ltd. (which will hereinafter be referred to as ‘the company’), which was promoted by the informant. In collusion with the company’s chartered accountant – applicant No. 3 Tushar Nagar, the applicants No. 1, 2 and 4 – Vivek Yadav, Vandana Yadav and Manoj Kumar Singh, entered into a conspiracy and grabbed the company and the business being run by it, on the basis of forged documents. Vandana Yadav had invested merely Rs. 28 lakhs in the year 2014 but she grabbed money far exceeding the amount invested by her. Vandana Yadav inducted her husband Vivek Yadav for extracting money from the company and she separated herself from the company. The applicants No. 1, 2 and 3 involved M/s Beegha Infraventures Private Limited, which was a commercial entity of the applicant Nos. 4 and 5 Manoj Kumar Singh and Vinod Kumar Singh and they took control over the company. The informant blindly trusted the company’ chartered accountant Tushar Nagar and he used to sign documents on the latter’s asking, without reading the same. The accused persons mismanaged the company and misappropriated its monies and properties due to which the company became bankrupt. The company had got a contract from U.P. Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Ltd. All preoperative expenses for carrying out the works, were borne by the informant and he had lent Rs.46 lakhs to the company. Even before completion of the works, Vandana Yadav took a loan of Rs. 5 crores from the company in the name of her company SVY infrastructure Private Limited, by misleading the informant and this loan was taken even before Vandana Yadav had made investment of Rs. 28 lakhs in the company. She had transferred some amounts to M/s Shalimar Corporation Ltd and M/s SAS Hotel and Property Private Limited and had purchased a car in the years 2012 and 2013. The amounts were mentioned in the account books as loans but the same were not repaid by Vandana Yadav. The informant was induced to transfer Rs. 6 crores from the company’s account in various installments in November 2014 and February 2015 for purchasing a property at Mumbai but neither a conveyance deed was executed, nor was the aforesaid amount refunded to the company. When the informant sent a legal notice, the seller refunded Rs.10 lakhs to the company. On 21.10.2020, Manoj Kumar Singh informed that the seller Kulwinder Singh Bains had been arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch as he had been absconding for the past 15 years and he was a sharp shooter associated with a Mafia don.

3. The F.I.R. further states that Vivek Yadav Manoj Kumar Singh have transferred various amounts to various organisations without any reasonable object on various dates, starting from the year 2017 – 18. In the year 2014 Manoj Kumar Singh had got a sum of Rs. 16,609,193/-transferred to Wave Silver Tower Project Private Limited for purchasing two commercial units, one of which was transferred to M/s Beegha Infraventures Private Limited. Manoj Kumar Singh had promised to pay Rs. 90 lakhs towards the price of the unit to the company but he did not pay the amount. Manoj Kumar Singh had obtained 20 lakh shares of the company in the year 2016-17 under an assurance of paying its market value, which was Rs. 1,000/-per share, but the shares were wrongly transferred at the rate of Rs. 10/-per share only, in connivance with the company’s chartered accoun