Raigarh HC Grants Bail To Timber-Godown Tenant As State Cites No Material Linking Him To Allegedly Forged Transit Pass

The applicant sought regular bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in connection with a case alleging offences under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 338, 340(2), 61(2), 3(5) and 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 42(1), 41(2)(c)–(d) and 52(1) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

The prosecution alleged that forest officials found Tendu and Khair timber, equipment and a truck in a godown rented by the applicant, and that a transit pass later produced in relation to the timber was forged.

The applicant denied the allegations and submitted that there was no material showing that he had submitted the transit pass. The State stated that a driver had transmitted it through WhatsApp, but that the driver was not an accused, and acknowledged that it had no other material linking the applicant to its submission.

The applicant had been arrested and remained in custody; the charge-sheet had not yet been filed.

Section 483 of the BNSS empowers the High Court to grant regular bail. In exercising that power, the Court considered the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of the allegations, the applicant’s pre-trial detention and whether further custodial interrogation was required.

The alleged offences were under the specified provisions of the BNS and the Indian Forest Act. The Court cited no precedent and did not set out a broader legal test.

The Court considered the alleged recovery of timber and equipment from the godown, but also noted the evidentiary gap concerning the transit pass: the State’s account was that a driver had sent it through WhatsApp, and the State identified no other material showing that the applicant had submitted it.

In light of that gap, the applicant’s pre-trial detention and the Court’s conclusion that further custodial interrogation might not be required, the Court found it appropriate to grant bail without expressing a view on the merits.

Bail was subject to conditions concerning adjournments, court attendance, appearance at specified trial stages and proceedings in the event of non-appearance.