BAIL APPLICATION - Criminal Misc. BAIL Application No. 18659 of 2024 - Released on Bail

Oct 22, 2026

Uploaded by Finn

Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 18659 of 2024 concerns a bail request under Section 439 of the Cr.P.C. during the pendency of trial. The applicant, Ashwani Kumar Pandey, faces allegations linked to a bribery demand connected to a Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana construction issue. The court considers the delay in framing of charge and the incarceration period since 29.03.2024, referencing Supreme Court observations on speedy trial and personal liberty, and concludes a prima-facie case for bail. The bail is allowed subject to strict conditions including cooperation, non-interference, and no further criminal activity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Case Details

Parties and Counsel

Facts and Allegations

Trap Proceedings and Bribe Demand

Arguments

Applicant’s Submissions

Prosecution’s Opposition

Court’s Reasoning

Delay in Framing of Charge

Supreme Court Precedent

Order and Bail Conditions

Neutral Citation No. -2025:AHC:10236 Court No. -64 Case :-CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. -18659 of 2024 Applicant :-Ashwani Kumar Pandey Opposite Party :-State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :-Hare Ram Pandey,Pooja Thakur Counsel for Opposite Party :-Birendra Kumar,G.A. Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Singh,J. 1-Heard Ms. Pooja Thakur, learned counsel for the applicant, learned Additional Government Advocate representing the State and Mr. Birendra Kumar, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the informant. 2-The instant bail application under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. has been filed on behalf of the applicant with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 03 of 2024, under Sections 7/13(1)B read with 13(2) I. P.C. and under Sections 12 and 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, Police Station-Anti Corruption Basti, District-Basti during the pendency of trial. 3-The brief facts of the case, which are required to be stated are that on the complaint of the complainant dated 27.03.2024, a first information report was lodged on 29.03.2024 against Ashwani Kumar Pandey (present applicant) and Prem Shankar Pandey alleging inter-alia that the complainant has made an allegation that a house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana was sanctioned to him but high extension line/wire was going over his house, due to which construction could not be done on his roof. For the said purpose, he met Ashwani Kumar Pandey, Junior Engineer who demanded a bribe of Rs. 50,000/ - for raising the electric pole but instead of giving money, he made a complaint on which a preliminary enquiry was made, in which it was found that applicant-Ashwani Kumar Pandey is a corrupt officer, accordingly, a trap team was constituted. On 29.03.2024 when the complainant along with trap team went to Ashwani Kumar Pandey and said that he has brought the bribe money, then he gestured to give money to co-accused Prem Shankar Pandey. Accordingly, the applicant as well as co-accused were apprehended by the trap team. 4-The main substratum of argument of learned counsel for the applicant is that the applicant has been falsely implicated in this case. There is no cogent material / basis on record to indicate that the applicant-Ashwani Kumar Pandey is a corrupt officer, hence findings recorded in alleged pre trap proceedings are baseless and against the evidence on record. The offence, alleged against the applicant, is not a heinous crime. Much emphasis has been given by contending that the applicant is languishing in jail since 29.03.2024 but till date, charge has not been framed against him, therefore, there is no likelihood of concluding the trial of the applicant in near future. The applicant has no criminal history to his credit. Lastly it is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that there is no chance of the applicant of fleeing away from the judicial process or tampering with the prosecution evidence. In case the applicant is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in the early disposal of the case. 5-On the other hand, learned [A.G.A. as](A.G.A. as) well as learned counsel appearing on behalf of the complainant opposed the prayer for bail of the applicant but could not dispute the factum of the case as argued on behalf of the applicant. 6-Having heard learned counsel for the parties and examined the matter in its entirety, I find that the F.I.R. was lodged on 29.03.2024 and after submission of charge-sheet, cognizance of the offence was taken on 22.05.2024 fixing 04.06.2024 for framing of charge, but till date, charge has not been framed against the applicant. In the context of delay in trial of the applicant, it would be relevant to note that the Hon'ble Supreme in the case of Ashim alias Asim Kumar Haranath Bhattacharya alias Asim Harinath Bhattacharya alias Aseem Kumar Bhatacharya vs . National Investigation Agency ,(2022) 1 SCC 695, has made following observation: "This Court has consistently observed

FAQs

What is the bail application number and case reference?

The application is Criminal Misc. BAIL Application No. 18659 of 2024, seeking bail in Case Crime No. 03 of 2024.

What were the core allegations leading to the trap proceedings?

A bribe was alleged to be demanded for raising an electric pole connected to a construction issue under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The complaint led to a preliminary enquiry and a trap team, resulting in apprehension of the applicant and a co-accused.

Why was bail granted despite the trial stage not having advanced?

The court noted that after cognizance and the expected date for framing of charge, charge had not been framed till the relevant time, and it considered the prolonged incarceration, applying the Supreme Court’s guidance that speedy trial and personal liberty require enlarging under-trials on bail when timely trial is unlikely.

Oct 22, 2026

Uploaded by Finn