Bail is a rule and refusal is an exception, and it should not be withheld as a punishment. The decision to grant bail is based on the nature of the offence, evidence on record, and the absence of a criminal history for the applicant.

JUDGMENT :

1. List has been revised.

2. Heard Sri Prabhakar Awasthi and Sri Niraj Kumar Dwivedi, learned counsels for the applicant and Sri I.K. Chaturvedi, learned Advocate assisted by Sri Rajat Sharma, learned counsel for the informant as well as Sri R.P. Patel, learned A.G.A. for the State and also perused the record.

3. Applicant seeks bail in F.I.R./Case Crime No. 55 of 2023, under Sections 420, 409, 467, 468, 471 IPC, Police Station Sujanganj, District Jaunpur, during the pendency of trial.

PROSECUTION STORY:-

4. As per prosecution story, the applicant is stated to be the Additional Clerk in the institution being run by the informant, who happens to be its manager. The job of the applicant was to take care of the documents of the College including pertaining to the bank accounts in Union Bank of India, Branch Sujanganj, Jaunpur and he used to take care of all the transactions. Without any information, the applicant is stated to have absented himself since 9.3.2022. Despite many letters and reminders being sent to the applicant, no clarification was accorded by him. On suspicion, the statement of the account of the institution was taken from the Bank which indicated that an amount of Rs. 31,39,638/-has been wrongly withdrawn and the same has been transferred to the account number 366602010020750 of the applicant and he has misused the same.

5. It is also alleged in the FIR that the applicant had forged the signatures of the informant on the cheques and has caused loss to the State Ex-chequer including the institution. The Principal of the institution is also stated to have sent several letters to the applicant but he did not respond to any of them. On 16.1.2023, the Management Committee of the institution held an extraordinary meeting and passed a resolution that a 3-member committee shall open the wardrobe belonging to the applicant and get it video graphed. The said 3-member committee of Vijay Shankar Mishra, Sri Rakesh Kumar Tiwari and Heera Lal, in presence of the informant, had broke open the said wardrobe on 28th, 29th and 30th of January, 2023 and found several documents and files missing from it. A bare perusal of the record indicated that the applicant (Anil Kumar Mishra) had interpolated the documents and had taken them away.

RIVAL CONTENTIONS:

Contention On Behalf of Applicant:-

6. Learned counsel for the applicant has stated that the applicant is maliciously being prosecuted in the present case due to ulterior motive and has the apprehension of his arrest. The applicant has nothing to do with the said offence as alleged by the prosecution. Learned counsel has next stated that the applicant is stated to be working on the said post since 2018. Learned counsel has further stated that as per the letters sent to the applicant dated 25.12.2022, filed as Annexure-7 to the affidavit, an amount of Rs. 18,09,263/-is stated to have been withdrawn by the applicant, an amount of Rs. 13,30,375/-is stated to have been withdrawn by Kallu, and an amount of Rs. 3,39,537/-is stated to have been withdrawn by one Shyam Bahadur Yadav. It is next stated that the said letter indicates towards the embezzlement of Rs. 34,79,175/-but the FIR has been instituted regarding the embezzlement of Rs. 31,39,638/-only, which pertains to the said amount withdrawn by the applicant and Kallu. Learned counsel has stated that the said fact itself falsifies the prosecution story. It is stated that the alleged third person i.e. Shyam Bahadur Yadav had deposited the said amount in the account of the institution.

7. Learned counsel has stated that the co-accused person Kallu is stated to have sent a letter to the Manager/Principal of the institution on 18.4.2023 stating that he was ready to return the stipulated amount of Rs. 13,30,375/-due towards him. It is also alleged by the said person Kallu that it was the applicant, who used to give him cheques and take him to the Branch of the Bank and used to get the amount withdrawn from the account and retained the mon