SANGAT SINGH GILZIAN Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is the first petition under Sec. 482 Cr.P.C. for seeking permission to go abroad to United States of America from 10/11/2023 to 27/11/2023 during the pendency of trial in case bearing FIR No.07 dtd. 6/6/2022, under Ss. 7, 7A, 13(1)(A)(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended by P.C. (Amendment) Act, 2018) and Sec. 120-B IPC (Ss. 409, 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 IPC have been added later on), registered at Police Station Vigilance Bureau, Flying Squad 1, Punjab, at Mohali, District SAS Nagar.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner was falsely implicated in the above-said FIR and he had filed a petition bearing CRM-M-30346-2022 seeking the concession of anticipatory bail and the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court, vide a detailed order dtd. 18/7/2022 (Annexure P-2), was pleased to issue notice of motion and also stayed the arrest of the petitioner, which is continuing till date. It is further submitted that the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court, vide order dtd. 15/5/2023, had imposed certain conditions, which have also been complied with by the petitioner and the petitioner has joined the investigation and has not misused the said concession. It is further submitted that the marriage of the petitioner's nephew is to be performed from 15/11/2023 to 18/11/2023 at New York and California and for the said purpose, the wedding card and the venue booking agreement have been referred to, which have been annexed as Annexures P-5 and P-6 along with the present petition. It is stated that the nephew of the petitioner, namely, Karan is a U.S. Citizen and an attorney by profession in USA and he is getting married to Neha, who is also a US citizen, and all the wedding functions are being held at New York and California, which is apparent from the said wedding card. It is further stated that the real niece of the petitioner, namely, Dr. Kailash Kaur's house warming function is to be held at New York from 22/11/2023 to 24/11/2023 at 3 Bridle Path Drive, Old Westbury, New York and a reference with respect to the same has been made to the copy of invitation card (Annexure P-7). It is submitted that apart from the said two reasons, the third reason for the petitioner to visit USA is to visit nephew Surinder Singh, aged 49 years, who had lost his mother and brother and had himself suffered from Chronic heart failure and underwent a heart transplant surgery on 20/9/2023 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in order to prolong his life and he is on mechanical ventilation support. It is further submitted that the petitioner has already purchased air tickets and a copy of the same has been annexed as Annexure P-8 and has submitted that even the return tickets of the petitioner have also been purchased and the said tickets would show that the petitioner would depart from USA on 25/11/2023 and reach Delhi on 26/11/2023. It is argued that the petitioner is a permanent resident of the address which has been given in the present petition and has been involved in public life for 30 years and elected 3 times as an MLA from Tanda Urmur Constituency and remained a Cabinet Minister in the State of Punjab and has also served as President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and has deep roots in the society and is not involved in any other case apart from the present case. It is stated that since only the FIR has been registered against the petitioner and the trial is pending, thus, the petitioner has a right to visit USA to attend the marriage of his nephew and for the house warming function of his niece. It is further submitted that the petitioner had applied for seeking permission to travel abroad, which has been rejected by the trial Court by observing the allegations against the petitioner are serious and in case the petitioner is granted permission to go abroad, there is every likelihood that he would abscond and the said observations have been made on surmises and conjectures without taking into consideration the settled law. It has been brought to the notice of this Court that earlier an application bearing CRM-44690-2023 in CRM-M-30346-2022 was filed by the petitioner, which was withdrawn, vide order dtd. 19/10/2023 with liberty to the petitioner to file an application at the first instance before the concerned Court and thereafter, the petitioner had approached the concerned Court, which had rejected the prayer of the petitioner vide order dtd. 27/10/2023 (Annexure P-11) and it is thereafter the petitioner had filed the present petition. It is further argued that the petitioner would not object to his identification at any stage of trial and would not change his present lawyer during his stay abroad and would abide by all the conditions, which would be laid down by this Court. It is stated that the wife of the petitioner is residing in India and she, along with one more surety, is ready to give sureties in favour of the petitioner for his return. It is further stated that the co-accused of the petitioner, namely, Daljit Singh, had also applied for permission to go abroad and this Court vide order dtd. 3/11/2023 passed in CRM-M-53936-2023 has allowed the said petition. In support of his arguments, learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in 'Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India another', reported as (1978) 1 SCC 248; and 'Satish Chandra Verma v. Union of India', reported as 2019 SCC OnLine SC 2048 and the judgments of this Court in 'Ankur Gupta v. Central Bureau of Investigation', passed in CRM-M-34106-2023, decided on 20/9/2023; 'Bhupinderpal Singh v. State of Punjab', passed in CRM-M-19734-2022, decided on 30/5/2022; 'Amit Sureshmal Lodha v. State of Haryana', passed in CRM-M-10143-2022, decided on 14/3/2022; 'Devinder Sandhu v. State of Punjab', passed in CRM-M-16262-2022, decided on 25/8/2022; and judgment of Hon'ble Gujarat High Court in 'Subhash Daulatra Bhojani v. State of Gujarat', passed in Special Criminal Application No.1973 of 2013, decided on 13/3/2015.

(3.) Learned State counsel, to whom a copy of the petition has been supplied in advance, is prepared in the matter and has opposed the present petition on the ground that the allegations against the petitioner are serious and prima facie case under the Prevention of Corruption Act is made out against the petitioner and in case the petitioner is permitted to go abroad, then, there is every possibility that he would evade the process of law, flee from justice and would not return back to India to face trial. It is argued that the anticipatory bail application of the petitioner is pending before this Court and the same is now listed for 29/11/2023. The fact that co-accused of the petitioner, namely, Daljit Singh has been granted permission to go abroad however, has not been disputed.