Kolkata, Apr 8 The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to multi-crore Saradha ponzi scam accused Sudipta Sen in the last two of the over 300 criminal cases against him, paving the way for his release from jail after 13 years.
The court observed that the right to a speedy trial is inalienable under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the fundamental right to protection of life and personal liberty.
A division bench of the high court granted bail to Sen in two cases pertaining to the Barasat police station in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
"When an individual is detained for 13 years, a period nearly doubles the maximum sentence for the offences charged, the detention shifts from preventive to punitive," the division bench comprising Justices Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Uday Kumar observed.
The court noted that Sen has been granted bail in 387 out of 389 cases, including all CBI matters, without any report of obstructive conduct.
"To deny bail now, in the face of a 'stalemate' admitted by the state, would be to sanction an indefinite life sentence without conviction," the bench said.
The court directed that Sen be released upon furnishing a bond of Rs 5,000 with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local.
The Saradha group, headed by Sen, allegedly defrauded lakhs of people through a number of ponzi schemes. He was arrested in April 2013 in Jammu and Kashmir after financial misappropriations to the tune of hundreds of crores of Rupees were unravelled.
The division bench directed that in view of the magnitude of the financial scam and the necessity to safeguard public interest, Sen must surrender his passport to the trial court if not already in the custody of any other agency.
Prohibiting Sen from leaving the territorial limits of West Bengal without the prior written permission of the high court, the division bench directed the financial scam accused to provide his residential address to the officer in charge of Barasat police station and not to change his place of stay without prior intimation to both the police and the trial court.
"The petitioner is strictly restrained from promoting, managing, or acting as an agent or consultant for any financial entity," the court directed.
Sen was further directed not to contact, influence or intimidate any person acquainted with the facts of the cases, specifically the complainants and prosecution witnesses.
He was also directed to attend every date of trial, either via virtual mode or physical appearance.
Along with Sen, his close associate Debjani Mukherjee was also arrested from Sonmarg in Jammu and Kashmir 13 years ago. She has already been granted bail in the cases registered against her.
Praying for Sen's bail, his counsel Sabir Ahamed argued that the petitioner, now 64 years of age, suffers from multiple life-threatening co-morbidities and recently survived a brain stroke.
He submitted that the petitioner's pre-trial detention has already exceeded double the maximum sentence he might have served upon conviction.
Advocate for the state contended that the Saradha Group's operations lured investors with promises of high returns, only to defraud them of their principal amounts, leading to charges for cheating and criminal breach of trust.
Granting bail to Sen, the court said that the prolonged detention, the admitted administrative failures, and the petitioner's critical medical condition necessitate judicial intervention.
The division bench directed the trial court to take immediate steps for the reconstruction of missing records in one of the two cases before it.
It directed the chief judicial magistrate to submit a status report regarding the progress of the reconstruction to the Registrar (Judicial Service) of the high court within four weeks.
In respect of the other case registered in Barasat, the division bench directed the state to ensure that the mandatory "police papers" under the CrPC are served upon the petitioner within three weeks from the date of his release.
It further directed that once the records are reconstructed and papers are supplied, the trial court will endeavour to conduct the trial on a day-to-day basis to the extent possible.
Kolkata, Apr 8 The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to multi-crore Saradha ponzi scam accused Sudipta Sen in the last two of the 300-odd criminal cases against him, paving the way for his release from jail after 13 years.
A division bench of the high court granted bail to Sen in two cases pertaining to the Barasat police station in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Sen has already been granted bail in all the other cases registered against him, including four criminal cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The court directed that Sen be released upon furnishing a bond of Rs 5,000 with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local.
The Saradha group, headed by Sen, allegedly defrauded lakhs of people through a number of ponzi schemes. He was arrested in April 2013 in Jammu and Kashmir after financial misappropriations to the tune of hundreds of crores of Rupees were unravelled.
The division bench, comprising justices Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Uday Kumar, directed that in view of the magnitude of the financial scam and the necessity to safeguard public interest, Sen must surrender his passport to the trial court if not already in the custody of any other agency.
Prohibiting Sen from leaving the territorial limits of West Bengal without the prior written permission of the high court, the division bench directed the financial scam accused to provide his residential address to the officer in charge of Barasat police station and not to change his place of stay without prior intimation to both the police and the trial court.
"The petitioner is strictly restrained from promoting, managing, or acting as an agent or consultant for any financial entity," the court directed.
Sen was further directed not to contact, influence or intimidate any person acquainted with the facts of the cases, specifically the complainants and prosecution witnesses. He was also directed to attend every date of trial, either via virtual mode or physical appearance.
Along with Sen, his close associate Debjani Mukherjee was also arrested from Sonmarg in Jammu and Kashmir 13 years ago. She has already been granted bail in the cases registered against her.
