The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to former UP Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Haji Yaqoob Qureshi.
A Single Bench of Justice Raj Beer Singh passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc Bail Application filed by Yaqoob Qureshi.
The bail application has been filed by the applicant in Case under Section 2/3 of UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, Police Station-Kharkhauda, District-Meerut, with the prayer to enlarge the applicant on bail.
Senior Advocate for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and he has been falsely implicated in this case. The applicant is neither running any gang nor he is a member of any gang.
The allegations levelled against the applicant, are wholly false and there is no credible evidence to support the same.
In the Gang Chart, only one Case under Sections 417, 269, 270, 272, 273, 120-B I.P.C, Police Station-Kharkhauda, District-Meerut, has been mentioned and in that case, applicant has already been enlarged on bail by the Court. There is no credible evidence to show that the applicant is a gang leader. The provisions of Gangster Act have been invoked against the applicant without any sufficient basis. The Applicant is a peace loving person and earlier he has been elected as Deputy Mayor of Meerut city and member of Legislative Assembly for several times.
It was submitted that applicant is father of co-accused Imran Qurashi and Firoz, who are directors of M/s Al Faheem Meatex Pvt Ltd, and that the said company is doing lawful business relating to slaughtering, packing and storing of meat and that at the relevant time, the renewal of license of the said company was already pending.
The applicant is neither director of the said company nor he was associated with day to day business of the said company. Merely because the wife and two sons of applicant are directors of the said company, the applicant has been falsely implicated in thE case due to political enmity.
It is further submitted that applicant is a senior citizen, aged about 64 years, and he has been a Member of Legislative Assembly for several times and that now, applicant is languishing in jail since 07.01.2023. It was submitted that in case the applicant is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in trial.
The Additional Advocate General has vehemently opposed the prayer of bail and argued that applicant is gang leader and there is long criminal history of applicant. It was submitted that the applicant is having terror in the area and that no one dares to make any complaint or depose against him.
The Court noted that,
In the case, it may be stated that in the first information report it was alleged that applicant is leader of the gang and co-accused persons are members of said gang and that they, acting singly or collectively, indulge in commission of offences prescribed under the relevant chapter of Indian Penal Code for obtaining undue temporal, pecuniary, material gains.
The main allegation is that they are indulging in illegal storage and business of meat and that a factory by the name of M/s Al Faheem Meatex Pvt Ltd is being run without any valid license and in that connection, a Case under Sections 417, 269, 270, 272, 273, 120-B I.P.C, has already been registered against them at the Police Station Kharkhauda, District-Meerut. The applicant is stated on bail in that case. Except the above referred incident of Crime, no other incident has been mentioned to support the allegation that the applicant is a leader or member of the gang or that he has indulged in commission of offences prescribed under section 2(b) of Gangster Act.
It was shown that the applicant is not a director of the said company. The co-accused Imran Qurashi and Firoz, who are directors of the said company, have already been granted bail. The applicant is stated to be a senior citizen, aged about 64 years, and he is languishing in jail since 07.01.2023 and thus, the applicant has already undergone detention of about seven months and it appears that there is no possibility of early disposal of the trial.
“Examining the matter at the touchstone of the provisions of section 19(4) of Gangster Act vis-a-vis the principle underlying the theory of criminal jurisprudence that an accused is presumed to be innocent till he is held guilty by a court of the competent jurisdiction and considering submissions raised on behalf of parties and considering the nature of accusations and evidence shown against applicant and the fact that the applicant has already undergone the detention of about seven months, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the Court is of the view that a case for bail is made out”, the Court observed while allowing the bail application.
The Court ordered that,
Let the applicant -Yaqoob Qureshi, involved in aforesaid case crime, be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions:
(i) The applicant shall not tamper with the evidence during the trial.
(ii) The applicant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witness.
(iii) The applicant shall appear before the Trial Court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted.
(iv) The applicant shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which he is accused, or suspected, of the commission of which he is suspected.
(v) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the Court concerned shall be at liberty to cancel bail of the applicant in accordance with law.