IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: 4.11.2025 Manjinder Singh Cheema …Petitioner.

v.

State of Punjab …Respondent.

CORAM: HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE AARADHNA SAWHNEY.

Present: Mr. Vipin Mahajan, Senior Advocate with Mr. Utkrant Mahajan, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Gautam Thapar, Senior DAG, Punjab.

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AARADHNA SAWHNEY, J. (Oral)

1. Petitioner, an accused in case FIR No. 141 dated 02.09.2019, registered against him for offences under Sections 420, 120-B of Indian Penal Code, at Police Station Gurdaspur, District Gurdaspur, has filed the present petition under Section 483 of BNSS for grant of bail.

2. The facts as can be inferred from the documents on record be noticed hereinbelow:-

Gurmeet Singh, a retired Army personnel, son of Sodagar Singh, resident of Dholewal, District Pathankot, set the criminal law in motion by filing a complaint against the Managing Director, Director, Branch Manager, Cashier etc. of KIM Investment Ltd., Gurdaspur, alleging therein that company officials had lured him to invest/deposit his hard earned money in the shape of FDR in the policies/schemes of the company, assuring that he would receive double the amount invested after expiry of some period. Relying on the assurance given by the agents and other officials of the company, money was deposited but shockingly enough, what to talk of receiving double the money so invested, even the original money was also not received back by him. Shockingly enough, neither the officials were responding, the office of complainant was also found closed. In all, fraud of approximately Rs.13 crores is alleged to have been committed by the Managing Director, Director and other officials of the company. In the incident, not only the complainant but several others similarly situated as him have lost their hard earned money. On receipt of this complaint, enquiry was conducted. Finding substance in the allegations levelled, a formal case vide FIR No. 141 dated 02.09.2019, was registered u/s 420, 120-B of Indian Penal Code, at Police Station Gurdaspur.

It is not disputed that initially the FIR was registered against the Director and Cashier of KIM Infrastructure and Developers Ltd. Real Estate, namely, Ravinder Singh and Krishan Kumar, respectively. Subsequently, present petitioner, whose name figured in the statements of witnesses recorded under Section 161 of Code of Criminal Procedure, as also against whom specific allegations were levelled by complainant, when he appeared in the witness box, was summoned as an accused on an application under Section 319 of Code of Criminal Procedure moved by the complainant.

Application for grant of bail moved by petitioner was dismissed by learned Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Gurdaspur, vide order dated 25.4.2025. The same was affirmed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur, in terms of order dated 15.5.2025. Aggrieved of which, the present petition has been filed for grant of bail.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case. He never lured complainant or other investors to invest their money. Precisely, for this reason, he was not arrayed as accused in the FIR. After investigation, he was found to be innocent. It is further the submission of learned counsel that in pursuance of order dated 19.5.2025 passed by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 394 of 2024 titled as Ravinder Singh Sidhu v. The State of Punjab and others, trial of the present case along with other FIRs of the like nature pertaining to State of Punjab (as mentioned in para 15 of the said order) has been transferred to District Mohali. All the FIRs have been clubbed together and FIR No. 198 of 2018 has been treated as ‘lead’ case. Thus, the likelihood of the trial being completed in the near future is quite remote.

Learned counsel next contends that the accused, who was specifically named in the FIR, has since been granted the concession of bail by t