ORDER

25.08.2021 Date :

Heard Mr. S. C. Biswas, learned counsel for the petitioner.

Also heard Mr. B. B. Gogoi, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the State of Assam.

2. This Anticipatory bail petition has been filed by the petitioners namely, 1. Manik Saha and 2. Swapan Kumar Sarkar apprehending their arrest in connection with Bongaigaon Police Station case No. 460/2021 under Sections

120(B)/413/420/468/471 of IPC.

3. The aforesaid case was registered on behalf of an FIR dated 26.05.2021 lodged by the informant, S/I, Swapan Kumar Ray of Bongaigaon Police Station.

4. The allegations in the FIR pertaining to seizure of 140 bags of supari which are suspected to be of Burmese origin from the residence of Swapan Kumar Sarkar. The informant suspected that the suparies were illegally transported from the neighbouring country without paying due customs duty etc. and are sold off in the local market in the form of local supari by changing the colour and the texture. In the search continued another 9 bags and the 61 bags of the same suspected Burmese suparies were seized from a make shift location at Souguri paddy field which was kept concealed by the petitioners and his associates.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioners are Traders in areca nuts i.e. supari and they conduct business through their concerns namely M/S Ramkrishna Stores and M/S Maa Kali Enterprise respectively. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits by referring to Annexure 2 (page.17) that Bijni Town Committee has issued a Trade Licence to one Manik Saha, son of Sri M. Saha, who is the petitioner no.1 and he carries on his business under the proprietorship firm of Ramkrishna Stores situated in the Bijni Town. A reference is also made to the Registration Certificate under the GST which is enclosed as Annexure 2-A (page-18). The learned counsel for the petitioners refers to the annexures in the bail petition to substantiate his submission that the petitioners are in the trade of areca nut for several years and they have consistently been paying all the dues including GST. Therefore there is no illegality in the conduct of their businesses. He refers to annexure 3 A series to submit that the same are purchase vouchers of suparies purchased from the suppliers named therein. Mr. Biswas submits that the petitioners being in the trade of areca nut/ suparies have been falsely accused of the allegations made in the FIR. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners strongly suspect that the same is a result of conspiracy hatched by the business rivals in their trade. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that pursuant to the interim bail granted by this Court on 09.07.2021 they appeared before the Investigating Officer and their statements have also been recorded. They have fully co-operated with the Investigating Officer in respect of the investigation conducted. It is submitted that all the documents and papers relevant for the purposes of investigation are already in the custody of police and any further documents as may be required will be supplied by them.

6. Mr. B. B. Gogoi, learned Additional Public Prosecutor submits that the case dairy called for has been received and the same is presented before the Court. Case diary presented is duly perused.

7. From the case diary it is seen that the investigation of police is on the basis of suspicion that the areca nut/supari are being illegally brought from a neighbouring country namely Burma and sold off in the local market and thereby evading customs duty. During the investigation it is also seen that the samples were sent to the forensic laboratory whereby the Forensic Science Laboratory, Assam has opined that there is no harmful chemical found in the sample examined. The result of the examination is as under:

“The exhibit C-37/2021 gave positive tests for arecoline (alkaloid found in areca nut). No other harmful chemical found in C-37/2021.”

8. It