RAJESH BHARDWAJ, J. (Oral)

1. Present petition has been filed by the petitioner praying for grant of regular bail in case FIR No.42 dated 08.06.2024, under Section 408 of IPC, registered at Police Station Talwara, District Hoshiarpur, Punjab.

2. Succinctly, facts of the present case are that the complaint was received seeking registration of an FIR against Ajay Kumar (petitioner), Ex-Secretary of the concerned Cooperative Society alleging misappropriation/embezzlement of society funds. It was informed that an earlier FIR i.e. FIR No.60 dated 21.07.2022 had already been registered against Ajay Kumar regarding embezzlement of Rs.52,30,000/-, whereas, allegations concerning additional amounts had not yet been covered. It was alleged that during his tenure as Ex-Secretary, Ajay Kumar prepared and showed bogus loan accounts in the names of various members, made recoveries from borrowers but failed to enter the same in the society record, and also retained cash in hand with him without depositing it in the society account, thereby causing wrongful loss to the society. It was alleged that the allegations surfaced during arbitration proceedings, where the concerned Arbitrator passed