VIKAS MENDIRATTA Vs. STATE OF DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Bail Appl. No. 1618/2008.

(2.) THE present bail application has been filed under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner in the event of his arrest. The necessary facts, as set out in the present application, are that an FIR was lodged on 14.5.2008 by one Sh. Harvinder Singh Sodhi, who stated himself to be working as a Supervisor in the Oxford Management Agency (hereinafter referred to as, "agency"), C -52, Flatted Factory Complex, Jhandewalan, Delhi. Sh. Vikas Mendiratta, petitioner herein, was stated to be the owner of the agency. Sh. Mahender Singh, Sh. Tarun Bhalla, Sh. Ajay Kumar, were also stated to be working at the said agency and that a team was being headed by Sh. Surinder Saini under whom one Mr. Sajauddin (since deceased) was working. As per the said FIR, on 14.05.2008, an information was received from the HSBC Bank that a sum of Rs. 22,000/ - was not received by them although a receipt had been issued. On enquiry, it was learnt that the receipt was issued by Sh. Sajauddin. The said information was conveyed to the petitioner, who instructed Harvinder Singh Sodhi to call Sajauddin to the office. The deceased reached the office and was questioned with regard to the issuance of the said receipt and the payment received by him. As per the FIR, the petitioner herein, was not present at the time of the questioning of the deceased, however, it is stated that the questioning was being done at his instructions. Further, as per the FIR, during the course of questioning of the deceased, he is stated to have gone to the toilet from where he jumped from the third floor and sustained grievous injuries. He was thereafter taken to Ganga Ram Hospital.

(3.) LEARNED senior counsel for the petitioner submits that when the present bail application came up for hearing, this Court had granted interim protection to the petitioner on 04.08.2008 and which protection, continues till date. Learned senior counsel submits that the matter was adjourned from time to time as the counsel for the State had sought adjournments on the ground that the recording files of the CCTV Camera, which was installed at the agency, had been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh, for examination, and the examination report was awaited. A.V.C.D. interviewing the deceased, recorded by a star news correspondent, was also sent to the CFSL, the examination report of which has since been received.