Saurabh Malik
Chandigarh, April 13
The Punjab and Haryana High Court sees a revival of “thuggee” in Punjab. Justice Anoop Chitkara of the High Court has asserted that the sly manner in which an accused fabricated Aadhaar and PAN cards of another person and misused the casual approach in the disbursement of loans pointed out “the dangerous trend of the revival of thugee by revisiting the history”.
“Thuggee” or swindling in general refers to the acts of thugs, who form organised gangs. The reference came during the hearing of a petition against the State of Punjab filed by the accused seeking anticipatory bail in a case registered for cheating, forgery and other offences under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC at the Tripri police station in Patiala district in May last year.
Opposing the bail plea, the state counsel submitted that the custodial interrogation of the accused was required “not only to ascertain the extent of actual fraud, but also to find out how many more innocent persons have been cheated by the petitioner”.
Appearing before Justice Chitkara’s Bench, the state counsel contended that the petitioner had indulged in cheating and “thugee” was raising its ugly head. It was time to nip the evil in the bud. Furthermore, the petitioner had criminal antecedents and bail encouraged habitual offenders.
After hearing rival contentions, Justice Chitkara observed the allegations against the petitioner were that his namesake informed the police that someone has obtained 28 loans from different banks by fabricating his Aadhaar and PAN cards. After an initial inquiry, the police found the petitioner’s involvement and registered the FIR.
The status report revealed that the petitioner bought, among other things, a Harley Davidson motorcycle for Rs 10,41,000, another two-wheeler and a mobile phone by using the forged cards of the complainant. “Although the banks which gave the loan were grossly negligent, that would not justify the conduct of the petitioner to fabricate the documents of someone’s identity,” Justice Chitkara added.
Before parting with the case, Justice Chitkara added the petitioner was not entitled to anticipatory bail, given the nature of allegations and the gravity of the offence. He had failed to make a case for anticipatory bail in the facts and circumstances peculiar to the case and for the reasons recorded, the Bench concluded.
AADHAAR, PAN CARDS ‘FABRICATED’
Justice Anoop Chitkara said the allegations against the petitioner were that his namesake told the police that someone obtained 28 loans by fabricating his Aadhaar and PAN cards. The police found the petitioner’s involvement and registered an FIR.
Punjab and Haryana High Court sees revival of ‘thuggee’
{$excerpt:n}
