Prayagraj : The Allahabad high court has rejected the bail application of an accountant accused of embezzling over Rs 4 crore belonging to a religious institution in Varanasi by allegedly forging bank deposit receipts and siphoning off public offerings.
An FIR was lodged against the accused-applicant under sections 420 (cheating), forgery and 120-B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at police station – Chaubepur of Varanasi disrict.
He was arrested in Oct last year.
It was argued that he had worked with the institution for approximately 12 years and had no criminal antecedents. It was also claimed that the criminal case was a counterblast to a complaint lodged by his brother alleging the abduction and kidnapping of his wife and their 1.5-year-old child by influential officials of the institution. In this backdrop, the high court in its order dated Oct 14 rejected both bail applications and directed the trial court to decide the case expeditiously, provided there is no legal impediment.
Given the nature and gravity of the allegations, Justice Krishan Pahal found that the case did not warrant bail. The court, however, directed the trial court to decide the case expeditiously, in accordance with law, if there was no legal impediment. During the course of hearing, the counsel for the accused- applicant counsel submitted that he had been falsely implicated and had no connection with the alleged offences. The court clarified that its observations were confined to disposing of the bail applications and would not affect the merits of the case at trial.