Hon'ble Mrs. Saroj Yadav,J.
Heard Shri Naved Ali, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mrs. Meera Tripathi, learned A.G.A. for the State-respondents and perused the record.
The present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner, namely, Ashwin Giriraj Agrawal for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent no.2 and 3 to release the petitioner on parole in Criminal Appeal No.119 of 2017, titled as "Ashwin Giriraj Agrawal Vs. State of U.P. & another", pending before the Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Pratapgarh in view of the guidelines laid down by High Powered Committee for the release of prisoners during Covid-19 pandemic.
It has been submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner was tried in two cases, namely, Complaint Case Nos.158 of 2015 and 3196 of 2015 for offence under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act (in short, 'the Act') and vide order dated 23.11.2017, passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pratapgarh, the petitioner was sentenced to two years imprisonment in both the cases with fine of Rs.33 crore (in Complaint Case No.158 of 2015) and Rs.45 lacs (in Complaint Case No.3196 of 2015) and in default of payment of fine to further undergo three months imprisonment. He further submits that against the said order, the petitioner approached the Appellate Court by filing an appeal before the District & Sessions, Judge, Pratapgarh.
He further submits that at the stage of admission of appeal, the Appellate Court has ordered to deposit half amount of fine. Against the said order, the petitioner approached this Court by way of Application u/s 482 Cr.P.C. No.152 of 2018 which was partly allowed vide order dated 27.04.2018 and the order passed by the Appellate Court was modified to the extent that the petitioner shall deposit Rs.50,00,000/- within a period of two weeks from the date of his release, a copy of order is annexed as Annexure 2 to the petition.
Aggrieved by the order dated 27.04.2018, the complainant approached the Apex Court by filing an S.L.P. bearing Special Leave Petition (Criminal) Nos.5157-5158 of 2018 and the said S.L.P. was disposed of vide order dated 08.01.2019 with direction to expedite the hearing of criminal appeal pending before the Appellate Court. A copy of order passed on S.L.P. is annexed as Annexure 3 to the petition.
It has further been argued by learned counsel for the petitioner that in pursuance of the order passed by Apex Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No.1 of 2020 in Re :- Contagion of Covid 19 virus in prisons and in view of guidelines issued by way of Circular No.1039/SLSA-15/2020(PS/Sharan) dated 30.04.2020, the petitioner moved an application for parole before the District Legal Services Authority, Pratapgarh on 17.05.2021, a copy of which is annexed as Annexure 5 to the petition, but the said application has not yet been decided and the same is still pending, hence the petitioner has come up before this Court by filing the present petition.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the respondent no.2 is directed to decide the application/representation, moved by the petitioner, on 17.05.2021 expeditiously preferably within a period of six weeks from the date of production of a copy of this order in accordance with law.
With the aforesaid directions, this petition stands disposed of.
The party shall file computer generated copy of order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad, self attested by it alongwith a self attested identity proof of the said person(s) (preferably Aadhar Card) mentioning the mobile number(s) to which the said Aadhar Card is linked, before the concerned Court/Authority/Official.
The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of the computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
.
(Mrs. Saroj Yadav,J.) (Ramesh Sinha, J.) Order Date :- 27.7.2021 Anand/-