STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Justice Vinod Chatterji of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court granted bail to former Principal GMC Dr. Shashi Sudan in alleged Date of Birth forging case registered by Crime Branch.
While granting bail, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul after hearing Sr. Adv Pranav Kohli with Advocates Aftab Malik, Farhan Mirza and Vastav Sharma for the applicant whereas Sr. AAG Monika Kohli for the Crime Branch, observed that in the present case, prima facie, no case of forgery is made out against the petitioner as her date of birth certificate had been corrected by the Jammu and Kashmir board of School Education following due process of law.
The record of investigation would reveal that most of the documents relevant for the investigation have already been seized by the Investigating Agency. The fact that the petitioner is in Government service and there is no chance of her absconding from trial is also to be taken into consideration for the purpose of considering this bail application. The respondents have nowhere stated that the petitioner is hiding or is not cooperating with the investigation of the case. These facts are relevant while considering an application for bail. Therefore, what has been stated above, the petitioner has made out a case for grant of bail in anticipation of her arrest under the provisions of section 438 Cr. PC, Court said.
Court further said that it is not in dispute that in compliance to earlier order passed by this Court, the petitioner has already appeared before the investigating Agency and has participated in the investigation. All the relevant documents are stated to have been collected by the investigating officer. Thus, this Court is of the opinion that custodial investigation of the petitioner in this case is not necessary as a consequence of the above discussion, the interim bail granted to the petitioner on 12.07.2023 is made absolute subject to the conditions already contained therein.