Allahabad HC grants pre-arrest bail to congress leader in criminal intimidation case

The Allahabad High Court at Lucknow Bench recently allowed anticipatory bail to Congress leader Arjun Pratap alias Pappu Yadav in a criminal intimidation case. 

Allegations against the Congress leader are that he, being a land mafia, tried to capture property of a woman by fraud and threatened to evict her from her own house. 

The bench of Justice Karunesh Singh Pawar, however, allowed the pre-arrest bail plea of Yadav considering the delay of five years in lodging the FIR as well as the fact that the chargesheet had already been filed.

Court also took into account the assurance advanced by Yadav that as he had cooperated in the investigation, he would cooperate in the trial as well. 

"...it would be expedient in the interest of justice that the liberty of the applicant may be protected in view of dictum of Apex Court in re: Sushila Aggarwal Vs. State (NCT of Delhi)-2020 SCC online SC 98," the court, therefore, ordered. 

The FIR in the case was lodged in 2018 under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 504 and 506 Indian Penal Code at Mill Area Police station in district Raebareli of Uttar Pradesh. 

The informant woman had alleged that Yadav falsely implicated her husband in a rape case and threatened to evict her from her house. Allegedly, Yadav had captured her other house as well. 

The woman had stated that when she got to know about her other house and asked Yadav about it, he showed her a receipt issued with forged signature of her husband and a sale deed. On the basis of the forged certificate, a civil suit had also been initiated by him, the woman had claimed. 

On the contrary, Yadav's counsel submitted before the court that as Yadav is an active member of a National Political Party, many cases had been falsely filed against him. 

The counsel apprised the court that Yadav purchased the concerned property from the husband of the informant for a sale consideration of Rs.3,00,000 against which the husband of the informant had issued a receipt in 2013. 

He has had legitimate possession since 2013, on the other hand, the FIR has been lodged with an unexplained delay of 5 years which raises suspicion, he argued. 

On due consideration of the arguments advanced; perusal of the record, the court ruled in favor of Yadav and ordered that in the event of Yadav's arrest, he shall be released on anticipatory bail in the present case on his furnishing a personal bond with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court.

Case Title: Arun Pratap Alias Pappu Yadav v. State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home, Lko.

Statute- Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code