The Hon’ble Chhattisgarh High Court has remarked that the undertrial prisoners against whom charges have been framed under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, (hereinafter referred as “UAPA, 1967”), Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, (hereinafter referred as “PMLA, 2002”), etc., and are under investigation by specialized agencies like CBI, NIA, Ed, etc., are not entitled to be released on interim bail according to the High Powered Committee Guidelines.
The Hon’ble Single Judge Bench headed by Hon’ble Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas while dealing with a petition, challenging the lower Court’s Order dated 22.05.2021 rejecting a plea seeking interim bail by the petitioner, who was accused of trading gold and silver through hawala transactions. The petitioner apart from Customs Act, 1962 was required to undergo investigation under other provisions also and for the same, it was held that he was not entitled to interim bail.
The Hon’ble Court well aware of the petitioner’s criminal history and accusing him of smuggling of gold, observed that there is a possibility of the petitioner interfering with the process of justice and causing unnecessary delay and held that the petitioner is not entitled to avail the bail as per the guidelines issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in a Suo moto petition N. 01/2020.
