Sumani Mondal v. State Of West Bengal

11.12.2025

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Item No.15 CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION Ct.No.35 dc.

Allowed C.R.M. (M) 2602 of 2025 In Re : An Application for bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 corresponding to Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 filed in connection with Suti Police Station Case No. 782 of 2023 dated 22.12.2023 under Sections 420/406/409/467 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and charge-sheet submitted under Sections 120B/420/409/467/468/471 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 .

And In Re :

Sumani Mondal ... Petitioner.

Mr. Sandipan Ganguly, Sr. Adv., Mr. Tapodip Gupta ... For the Petitioner.

Ms. Manisha Sharma, Ms. Sana Naaz ... For the State.

Learned senior advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is in custody for 282 days and the investigation has already been concluded. Further, charges have been framed in connection with this case and trial has commenced. Petitioner was the Panchayat Pradhan for a part of the check period. Learned senior advocate submits that having regard to the stage of the case, further detention of the petitioner is unwarranted and she may be released on bail on any stringent condition.

Learned advocate appearing for the State, on the other hand, opposes the prayer for bail and submits that signatures in the bearer cheques belong to the present petitioner. The vouchers which were the foundation of

issuance of such bearer cheques were found to be fake and the petitioner's signature has tallied, according to the report of the Questioned Documents Examination Bureau. Learned senior advocate for the petitioner, on the contrary, submits that some of the signatures allegedly have tallied and the petitioner was the Panchayat Pradhan for a limited period in respect of the check period for which investigation has been carried on.

On an overall view of the present status of the case before the learned Trial Court, the admitted position is that charges have already been framed and there is no further investigation to be left. The documents are in possession of the investigating agency and almost 27 witnesses are to be examined by the prosecution in support of its case. Having considered the period of detention already suffered by the petitioner, I am of the view that further detention of the present petitioner is unwarranted. As such, the prayer for bail of the petitioner is allowed.

Accordingly, the petitioner viz., Sumani Mondal shall be released on bail upon furnishing bond of Rs.20,000/-, with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Berhampore.

If on bail, the petitioner shall be physically present on each and every date so fixed by the learned Trial Court and shall not leave the jurisdiction of the district of Murshidabad without prior permission of the learned Trial Court.

Petitioner also shall not create any fetters in the smooth progress of the trial. In case there is violation of any condition, the court in seisin of the present case would be at liberty to cancel the bail of the petitioner without further reference to this Court.

The application for bail, being CRM (M) 2602 of 2025, is, thus, disposed of.

All concerned parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities.

(Tirthankar Ghosh, J.)