240 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: 12.05.2026 YASH BHARDWAJ ...PETITIONER V/S STATE OF HARYANA ...RESPONDENT CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUBHAS MEHLA Present: Mr. Ajay Chauhan, Advocate and Mr. Aman Sarout, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Surender Singh Pannu, Addl. A.G., Haryana.

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SUBHAS MEHLA, J. (ORAL)

1. By way of the present petition filed under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the petitioner is seeking regular bail in case bearing FIR No.266 dated 01.10.2025 registered under Sections 420/467/468/471/120-B of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short ‘IPC) at Police Station Sarai Khawaja, District Faridabad.

2. In the present case, petitioner, in criminal conspiracy with others, fraudulently obtained a JCB loan from Shri Ram Finance, Sector 37, Faridabad, by misusing the documents of complainant, namely, Sandeep Nagar. He allegedly forged the complainant’s signatures, falsely showed him as guarantor, and used another person’s photograph on the loan documents.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner prayed for grant of regular bail to the petitioner on the following grounds :

i. The petitioner has been falsely involved in the present case.

ii. Co-accused, namely, Bheem Singh Chandel has been granted the concession of interim anticipatory bail by this Court vide order dated 06.11.2025 passed in CRM-M No.62097 of 2026 (Annexure P-4).

iii. The JCB in question has already been released to the co-accused, Ravi Kant Sharma on superdari, who has also been granted the concession of anticipatory bail by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Faridabad vide order dated 23.01.2026 (Annexure P-3)

iv. Petitioner is in custody since 01.10.2025 i.e. for the last more than 07 months.

v. Investigation has already been completed and final report under Section 173 of BNSS has already been filed.

vi. Offences, under which the FIR is registered, are triable by the Magistrate.

vii. Trial will take sufficient time to conclude. No fruitful purpose would be served by keeping the petitioner behind the bars for an indefinite period.

4. Status report dated 16.04.2026 filed by way of an affidavit of Sanjeev Kumar, HPS, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sarai, District Faridabad is taken on record. Learned State counsel has placed on record the custody certificate of the petitioner, which is taken on record. He opposed the prayer of the petitioner on the following grounds:

i. Petitioner has actively participated in the commission of offence as he along with other co-accused.

ii. Petitioner forged and misused the documents of the complainant to obtain loan on JCB in question.

5. On a query posed by this Court regarding the EMIs and superdari of JCB in question, learned State counsel, on instructions from ASI Dharampal, apprised this Court that co-accused Ravi Kant Sharma is paying EMIs on time.

6. Heard.

7. Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the present case and the following contentions of learned counsel for the parties that :

i. Petitioner is in custody since 01.10.2025 i.e. for the last more than 07 months.

ii. Investigation has already been completed and final report under Section 193 of BNSS has already been filed.

iii. Co-accused, namely, Bheem Singh Chandel has been granted the concession of interim anticipatory bail by this Court vide order dated 06.11.2025 passed in CRM-M No.62097 of 2026 (Annexure P-4).

iv. The JCB in question has already been released to the co-accused, Ravi Kant Sharma on superdari, who has also been granted the concession of anticipatory bail by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Faridabad vide order dated 23.01.2026 (Annexure P-3).

v. Trial will take sufficient time to conclude. No fruitful purpose would be served by keeping the petitioner in custody for any further period.

8. Concession of bail cannot be denied just as a measure of punishment as culpability of accused is to be decided after appreciating evidence adduced by both the parties. It is a trite principle of criminal ju