PRAHLAD Vs. STATE OF C G

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is the first bail application filed u/s. 439 of Cr.P.C. for grant of bail to the applicant who has been arrested on 11.07.2014 in connection with Crime No. 335/2014 at Police Station- Basantpur District - Rajnandgaon for the offence punishable under Sections 409, 419, 420, 468, 471/34 of IPC and 3(1) 7 of Essential Commodities Act, 1955. As per the prosecution, the allegation against the present applicant is that the present applicant who was peon in the Municipal Corporation, Rajnandgaon has acted in a manner unbecoming of an employee of the Municipal Corporation in as much as the present applicant has played an active role in the issuance of the ration card to the members who were not otherwise resident of the said locality and in the process the present applicant has also been able to take into confidence other members of the Corporation who were responsible in the process of issuance of ration card and in their connivance the present applicant has been able to issue fake ration cards for which he has been arrested on 11.07.2014 for the commission of offence punishable under sections 409, 419, 420, 468, 471/34 of IPC and 3(1) 7 of Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

(2.) Counsel for the applicant submits that the present applicant substantially holds the post of a peon in the Municipal Corporation, Rajnandgaon. The present applicant is not responsible for issuance of fake ration cards whereas before ration cards are issued large numbers of formalities have to be completed and which has to be routed through different sections and different officers to verify these documents and as such the present applicant can not be said to have been responsible for issuance of the fake ration cards particularly when he was working on the substantive post of peon in the said department.

(3.) Per contra, counsel for the State opposes the bail application and submits that the present applicant was discharging duty of a peon and he was primarily responsible for the documentation part in preparation of the ration cards and he had played a vital role in issuing the ration card to the persons who are not the residents of the particular ward and have thus committed the said offence therefore, the applicant should not be released on bail.