Extortion case: SC cancels bail of 4 accused, rejects bail plea of fifth

The Supreme Court cancelled bail for five accused in a violent Bihar extortion case, citing serious threats to trial fairness and witness safety.

The Supreme Court cancelled the bail of four accused and rejected the bail petition of fifth accused in a murderous attack and demanding extortion from a sweet shop owner of Bihar’s Gopalganj, official said on Saturday.

Extortion case: SC cancels bail of 4 accused, rejects bail plea of fifth

One of the accused persons, Amit Thakur, whose bail was refused by the Patna High Court filed for bail in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, noticing the seriousness and gravity of the offence, asked the state of Bihar to file a special petition for cancellation of bail of other accused persons of the same offence in a case under section 307 of the IPC. The state after taking instructions from the DGP office filed the same, and it resulted in cancellation of bail of all the five accused persons involved in the offence. Advocate Samir Ali Khan, counsel for Bihar government appeared before the bench from the government side.

The Manjhagarh police station of Gopalganj registered an FIR under Sections 307/385/387/506/34 of the IPC as also under Section 27 of the Arms Act against Amit Thakur, Chhatish Tiwari, Dhanjay Mishra and two others on the basis of the statement of Ranjeet Kumar on February 16, 2023. In the FIR, Ranjit alleged that he along with his brother Gauri Shankar Gupta was in his sweet shop in Dharam Parsa Bazar where two motorcycle borne five criminals arrived and fire upon him led to grievous injury of Gauri Shankar, who was sitting next to him. Dhananjay Mishra also used to demand extortion and had threatened the informant that in case money is not given, he will be eliminated. The informant narrated that Amit Thakur is the sharpshooter of Dhananjay Mishra.

Dhananjay Mishra, Amit Thakur, Chhatish Tiwari, Bijendra Kumar alias Ashish Kumar, and Veer Bahadur were arrested, and a charge sheet was filed on May 15, 2023 against Them. Dhananjay, facing nine criminal cases was granted regular bail by the High Court on February 22, 2024. The HC had already rejected the regular bail application of co-accused Amit Thakur.

During arguing, the Bihar government submitted that the release of the accused-respondents on bail poses a serious and imminent threat to the fairness of the trial, danger to the lives of the witnesses, imminent chances of evidence tampering particularly in light of their criminal background, association with an organised criminal network, and history of intimidation.

In such circumstances, the jurisdiction conferred under law may and ought to be exercised to cancel bail in order to uphold the ends of justice and rule of law. The present case is clearly of this nature, involving a premeditated, armed, and violent attack, which renders the exercise of such jurisdiction both necessary and imperative

“In light of the aforesaid discussion, we find that the present case is such which warrants the exercise of this Court’s extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution of India to intervene in the impugned orders which are accordingly set aside. Consequently, the bail granted to the accused-respondents stand cancelled. The accused-respondents shall surrender before the trial Court within a period of three weeks from today, failing which the trial Court shall be at liberty to cancel their bail bonds and take all necessary steps to secure their custody for the remainder of the trial. It is clarified that in the event of any change in circumstances, the accused-respondents shall be at liberty to renew their prayer for bail before the appropriate forum in accordance with law. The trial Court is further directed to make every endeavour to conclude the trial expeditiously, preferably within a period of one year from today,” read in the order passed by Judge Vikram Nath and Judge Sandeep Mehta.