Punjab and Haryana High Court Dismisses Contempt Petition Alleging Willful Disobedience of Anticipatory Bail Order

Legal News, High Court, Punjab and Haryana

July 23, 2023

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In a significant ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a contempt petition filed by Vinod Hastir against Balkar Singh and others, alleging willful disobedience of an order granting anticipatory bail. The judgment was delivered by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan on 19^th July 2023.

The petitioner, Vinod Hastir, had sought anticipatory bail in connection with FIR No.16 dated 23.01.2019 under Sections 406, 420, and 120-B IPC, registered at Police Station Navi Baradari, Jalandhar, District Jalandhar. Subsequently, during the investigation, the police added charges under Sections 465, 467, 468, and 471 IPC, alleging the production of forged documents by the petitioner.

Counsel for the petitioner argued that the arrest and subsequent bail were in violation of a previous judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. However, the respondents contended that proper procedure had been followed and the arrest was necessary for completing the investigation.

In the judgment, Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan observed, “Considering the fact that the petitioner himself has initially filed CRM-12226-2020 and CRM-18802-2020 in CRM-M-9545-2019 for grant of bail, which were dismissed as withdrawn on 25.01.2021, and even subsequently, the petitioner filed second petition i.e. CRM-M-5437-2021 for granted for anticipatory bail and the same was rendered as infructuous on 05.02.2021, in view of the statement that the petitioner stands arrested on 30.01.2021 and was granted the concession of bail vide order dated 04.02.2021, this Court finds no willful disobedience of the order.”

The Court further emphasized that the respondents did not intentionally or willfully disobey the court order and the arrest was made to facilitate the effective investigation.

Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that there was no willful disobedience of the court order, and the contempt petition was dismissed.

Date of Decision: 19th July 2023

Vinod Hastir vs Balkar Singh and others

Download Judgment