ORDER

07.11.2022 Heard Mr. P. Borah, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Mr. S.K. Jain, learned counsel for the applicant and also heard Mr. M. Phukan, learned P.P. for the State of Assam.

Apprehending arrest, in connection with Vigilance P.S. Case No. 04/2022, under section 120(B)/420/406/409/468/471 IPC, read with section

13(1)(a)/13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, this application, under Section 438 of Cr.P.C., is preferred by applicant, namely- Shri Mithu Agarwal, for grant of pre-arrest bail.

It is to be noted here that the above case has been registered on the basis of one FIR lodged by one Mrinal Sarma, Dy. Superintendent of Police, CM’s Special Vigilance Cell, Assam, Rupnagar, on 21.10.2022, to the effect that the Commissioner, Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has detected some irregularities and illegalities in execution of de-siltation works in the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, for which he directed to conduct an enquiry by Shri Pankaj Chakravarty, ACS, Joint Commissioner, GMC. During enquiry it was detected that one Firm, namely, M/S Dinsan Global Venture Pvt. Limited, owned by one Mithu Agarwal, was engaged for hiring vehicles/machineries for carrying out the de-siltation works of channels/drainage by issuing work order dated 21.05.2022 for the period from 02.04.2022 to 26.05.2022. The said Firm submitted bill, dated 27.06.2022, for a sum of Rs. 2,21,64,700/, and enclosed weighbridge slips of M/s Steel Udyog, Guwahati, along with the bills. But, the said bills, submitted by the Firm, are found to be forged. The Firm also submitted inflated bills to GMC showing supply of vehicles/machineries. It is found that on the basis of recommendation of Ashif Ahmed, Swachatta Officer, supply order of vehicles was issued to Shri Mithu Agarwala, who had neither submitted tender, not he had experience in execution of supply of vehicles and accordingly, he had supplied vehicles and submitted bills for Rs. 20,41,400/ on 08.02.2022, and payment of Rs. 19,80,158/ was made after deduction of Tax. He claimed an amount of Rs. 1400/ higher than his accepted rate for supply of Dumper, and thereby caused wrongful loss to the Govt. The weighbridge slip submitted by him also did not tally with the Register maintained in GMC dumping ground. He also submitted bills for sum of Rs. 1,09,30,500/ for supply of JCB and Dumper for the period 28.12.2021 to 26.02.2022 and a sum of Rs. Rs. 1,04,93,280/ was paid to him after deduction of Tax. He also submitted bills for supply of JCB and Dumper for the period 27.01.2022 to 25.03.2022 and submitted bills for a sum of Rs. 77,71,850/ and a sum of Rs. 74,60,975/ was paid to him after deduction of Tax. It is also found that Shri Dinesh Jaisawal, Director, M/S Dinsan Global Venture Pvt. Limited had submitted excess and exorbitant bills. A bill, dated 27.06.2022, for a sum of Rs. 1,00,54,800/ was submitted by forging weighbridge slips and Log Books. The Firm also caused loss of Rs. 56,10,705/ to GMC by forging weighbridge slips and Log Books. And it is also found that the forged weighbridge slips and Log Books were submitted with connivance of the GMC Officials. Sufficient evidences also found against the Officers and Officials of GMC, namely, Ashif Ahmed, Babulal Sharma, Shankar Medhi, Rama Kanta Saikia, Elina Begum, Chittaranjan Dutta, Hiranya Barman, Simanta Jyoti Baruah, Tasdiqur Rahman, Abhimunya Medhi, for non- implementation of de-siltation works as per terms and condition of the Tender Documents and payments were released without proper execution of works based on forged and fake documents.

Mr. P. Borah, the learned Senior Counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and he has been implicated falsely in this case. Mr. Borah submitted that the applicant has carried out the work as per work order, which was allotted to him by the GMC. Mr. Borah also submits and there is no chance of his absconding and he is ready to cooperate with the investigating agency, and therefore, i