Moti Lal @ Moti Lal Patwa v. The U.O.I. Thru Directorate Of Enforcement Thru Its Auth. Officer Under The P.M.L. Act,2002, Patna

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.62274 of 2021 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-5 Year-2016 Thana- GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL COMP. District- Patna ====================================================== MOTI LAL @ MOTI LAL PATWA Son of Late Hulas Ram Resident of Patwa Toli, Manpur, Durgasthan, P.S. - Buniyadganj, District - Gaya. ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

THE U.O.I. THRU DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT THRU ITS AUTH. OFFICER UNDER THE P.M.L. ACT,2002, PATNA Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, First Floor, Chandpura, Bank Road, West Gandhi Maidan, Patna.

... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mrs. Parul Prasad For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr.Manoj Kumar Singh, CGC ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRABHAT KUMAR SINGH ORAL ORDER 17-05-2022 Heard both sides.

Prayer for bail of this petitioner was earlier rejected by this court vide order dated 11.06.2020 passed in Cr. Misc. No. 73052/2019 with observation that the court below as well as the parties shall ensure that the trial is expedited and concluded preferably within a period of one year.

The trial court report reveals that out of ten accused persons this petitioner was produced on production warrant and is under custody in this case since 28.08.2019. Accused persons, namely, Dhiraj Jain, Hemant Kumar Verma and Arvind Kumar are on anticipatory bail granted by the Supreme Court. In view of no co-ercive steps order passed by the Hon'ble Apex Court in

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.62274 of 2021(7) dt.17-05-2022 2/2 Cr. Writ No. 60/2020, bailable warrant issued against accused person, namely, Bimal Jain has been recalled. Bailable warrants have already been issued against accused persons, namely, Pawan Kumar Jain, Om Prakash Nand, Subash Chandra Jha. Fresh summons have also been issued against accused persons, namely, Rajesh Kumar Agrawal and Rakesh Kumar Gupta. Since all the accused persons have not appeared as yet, despite the efforts taken by the court, the case is pending for appearance of accused persons.

Considering the nature of accusation and gravity of the offence, I am not inclined to enlarge the petitioner on bail. Accordingly, the same is rejected.

However, since the petitioner is in custody since 15.05.2019, the trial court is directed to conclude the trial as early as possible, preferably, within nine months from the date of receipt/ production of a copy of this order. (Prabhat Kumar Singh, J) BKS/- U T