Ahmedabad, Aug 26 The Gujarat High Court has granted bail to a woman running a marriage bureau and facing charges of cheating a client in a wedding arranged by her, noting no role was attributed to her as a member of a 'looteri dulhan gang'.
The conclusion of trial in the case will take time and keeping the accused in jail amounts to pre-trial conviction, noted Justice HD Suthar on Tuesday, while granting bail to the woman, Kavita Soni, who was arrested five months ago.
The HC also cited the foundational principle of criminal law -- "bail is the rule and jail is the exception" -- while granting her relief.
The applicant was ordered by the court to be enlarged on regular bail on executing a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount. The HC imposed a slew of conditions on the woman, including that she shall not take undue advantage of liberty or misuse liberty and shall not leave Gujarat without prior permission of the trial court.
Based on a complaint lodged by a local resident, a case was registered against her at Himmatnagar town in Sabarkantha district under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to criminal breach of trust and cheating.
According to the prosecution, the accused along with her husband Manhar ran a marriage bureau called "Divya Shakti". The complainant approached the bureau to find a match for his nephew and paid the accused Rs 5.10 lakh as brokerage.
However, the marriage of the complainant's nephew was solemnized with another woman and not the one initially agreed upon. This, the complainant said, amounted to criminal breach of trust and cheating.
"...the role of the present applicant (Soni) is limited to give promise or to solemnize the marriage of the nephew of the complainant. Except this, no role is attributed to the present applicant as a member of a 'looteri dulhan gang' or not any other allegation is revealed against the present applicant," the court noted in its order while granting bail to her.
A "looteri dulhan gang" refers to an organized criminal group that tricks unsuspecting men into fake marriages to steal cash and gold jewellery or extort money.
While granting relief to Soni, the HC considered aspects like the investigation in the case was over and a chargesheet filed. Also, the applicant was in jail since March 27 and there was nothing more to be recovered from the accused.
"Obviously, the conclusion of trial will take time and keeping the accused behind bars is nothing but amounts to pre-trial conviction. Therefore, considering the celebrated principle of bail jurisprudence that 'bail is the rule and jail is the exception' as well as the concept of personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, present application deserves consideration," it observed.
