IMPORTANT POINT
Bail is a fundamental right under Article 21, and its denial must be justified by compelling reasons.

JUDGMENT :

ALOK KUMAR VERMA, J.

1. The present Applications have been filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for grant of regular bail in connection with the Case Crime No. 45 of 2023, registered at police station Kankhal, District Haridwar.

2. The applicant-Sunil Saini is in judicial custody under Sections 409, 420, 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short “IPC”), Section 3, Section 4 of the Uttar Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 1998 (in short “Act, 1998”) (as applicable in the State of Uttarakhand) and Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (in short “Act, 1988”).

3. The applicant-Sudhir Kumar alias Satish Kumar alias Sushil Kumar is in judicial custody under Section 3, Section 4 of the Act, 1998 and Section 12 of the Act, 1988.

4. The applicant- Bhushan Singh is in judicial custody under Sections 409, 420, 120B IPC, Section 3, Section 4 of the Act, 1998, Section 7, Section 8 and Section 13 of the Act, 1988.

5. The applicant-Deependra Panwar alias Sonu is in judicial custody under Sections 409, 420, 120B IPC, Section 9, Section 10 of the Act, 1998, Section 8 and Section 12 of the Act, 1988.

6. The applicant-Manish Kumar is in judicial custody under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B IPC, Section 3, Section 4 of the Act, 1998, Section 7 and Section 8 of the Act, 1988.

7. These five Bail Applications have arisen from one case crime number i.e. Case Crime No. 45 of 2023, therefore, these five Bail Applications are being considered and decided by this common order. Record of the Bail Application No. 666 of 2023 is leading file.

8. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

9. Opposing the bail applications, Ms. Manisha Bhandari, learned Special Counsel, submitted that on 12.01.2023, the Inspector-Pradeep Singh Rana received a secret information that several persons were involved in a scam related to paper leak for the post of Patwari/Lekhpal. Thereafter, an FIR (FIR No. 12 of 2023) was registered. During the course of the investigation in FIR No. 12 of 2023, on 22.01.2023, a register was recovered at the instance of Sanjeev Dubey (co-accused). The said register contained the names of those students who were appearing in the Assistant Engineer/Junior Engineer examination. The note books, educational certificates, residence proof, castes certificates, employment certificates and two blank cheques of the students appearing for the AE/JE exam were recovered at the instance of the co-accused Rajpal. Some students were taken to Jose Country, Jwalapur and Laksar and were made to read the examination papers of AE/JE Examination, 2021. From these recoveries and the said information, it was revealed that the AE/JE exam papers were leaked.

10. Ms. Manisha Bhandari, learned Special Counsel, further submitted that Rs. 1,20,000/- were recovered from the house of the applicant-Sunil Saini. The applicant-Sudhir Kumar alias Satish Kumar alias Sushil Kumar provided his residence for accommodating the students for being given and solving forthcoming examination question paper. The applicant-Deependra Panwar alias Sonu made Ms. Priyanka transfer Rs. 3,00,000/- in the account of one Ashish Anand from the account of her mother. The applicant-Manish Kumar took money to the tune of Rs. 15,00,000/- from the examinee-Rahul Saini. The applicant-Bhushan Singh made multiple copies of the examination paper of JE before the exam.

11. Learned counsel for the applicants contended that the applicants have been falsely implicated in the present matter. There is no cogent evidence on record to connect the applicants with the alleged offence.

12. Mr. Lalit Miglani, Advocate, has submitted that the applicant-Sunil Saini’s marriage took place on 07.12.2022 and he had money for his honeymoon, which was recovered by the police.

13. The applicant-Sunil Saini is in custody since 04.02.2023. Applicant-Sudhir Kumar alias Satish Kumar alias Sushil Kumar is in custody since 14.03.2023. Applicant-Bhushan Singh is in c