ORDER

06.01.2021 By this pre-arrest bail application under Section 438 CrPC, petitioners, namely, 1) Musharaf Ali and 2) Abu Mucha Ahmed (arrested), have sought for pre-arrest bail in the event of their arrest in connection with CID PS Case No. 20/2020, under Sections 120 (B)/406/409/419/420/468/471 IPC.

Today, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor, appearing for the State has produced the Case Diary and also the bail objection given by the IO.

Considered the submissions made by learned counsel for both the parties.

According to the petitioner, he is not involved in the offence alleged.

On 28th August, 2020, Sh. Mahmood Hassan, Director, Assam Minorities Development Board and State Nodal Officer, Pre-Matric Scholarship for Minorities, Assam, lodged an FIR at CID HQ to the effect that the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme for minority communities is a Central Sector Scheme sponsored/ implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt. of India annually. Students belonging to the minority communities who secure 50% marks and above in the previous examination and whose parents’/guardians’ annual income does not exceed Rs. 1 lakh are eligible to apply online under the scheme from Class-I to X. To improve transparency in the scheme, the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) was launched to invite applications online on the website, i.e., www.scholarships.gov.in and the amount of scholarship is credited in the bank account of the students through the Direct Benefit Transfer)DBT mode.

The Director/informant has also mentioned about the guidelines and as per the workflow of the system of the online verification of the applications, the verification is done at two levels after the online applications are filed by the applicants on NSP portal- one at the Institute/School level and another at the District level through the designated District Nodal Officer (DNO) (i.e. Inspector of Schools or his authorized officials/District Elementary Education Officer or his authorized officer)

approved by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The Director/informant has alleged in the FIR that Headmasters of Schools/Institutions in connivance with middle men and CSP operators of different banks misappropriated Govt. Funds meant for poor minority students. He has further alleged that many of them prepared fake documents and uploaded as genuine with a view to misappropriate Government money for their personal gains. Hence, the case.

On perusal of the Case Diary and report from the IO, it reveals that the present accused petitioner, Musharaf Ali, who is a CSP, Allahabad Bank, Tarabari Branch, in connivance with one of the prime accused, namely, Mahmud Mehbubur Rahman, applied and verified the pre-matric minority scholarship application online at NSP and the accused petitioner also used the bank account opened under his CSP of Allahabad Bank in the name of fake beneficiary of Arunoday Jatiya Vidyalaya, Dinesh Jatiya Vidyalaya and Milijuli Adarsha Bidyalaya of Dhubri District. Further, the accused used his thumb impression in the withdrawal slip of respective bank to withdraw the cheque and misappropriated the fund meant for scholarship of minority.

Sufficient incriminating materials have emerged regarding his involvement and he played a vital role in the conspiracy of misappropriation of Government sponsored scheme.

Considering all entirety of the matter, this Court is of the opinion that it is not a fit case to grant the privilege of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner. Accordingly, his bail prayer stands rejected.

Bail Application stands disposed of.

Return the Case Diary.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant