No relief for Pataudi as bail plea turned down

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed the anticipatory bail petitions of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and a co-accused in the black ...

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today dismissed the anticipatory bail petitions of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and a co-accused in the black buck hunting case.

‘‘Sorry gentlemen. Petitions dismissed. All the best,’’ vacation Judge Rajive Bhalla said, pronouncing the verdict.

The counsel for Pataudi said if his client was granted bail, he was ready to join the probe, as custodial interrogation was not necessary in this case. To this, the Judge said this would mean that the courts would have to grant bail whenever an accused was ready to join the investigations.

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Pataudi’s counsel said there was no specific mention of his client in the FIR and he could not be linked with the seized items. Accusing animal activist Naresh Kadiyan of stealing the carcasses, he said the police had already discharged Pataudi after registering a DDR and making recoveries.

The counsel also argued that the police cannot arrest Pataudi again as his earlier detention was a technical arrest. He also questioned how could Pataudi, a resident of Delhi, be summoned by the Jhajjar Police.

However, the court ruled that the accused should have complied with the directions of the police when he was released after recording the DDR, rather than giving these technical arguments.

The court observed that if after releasing the accused, his involvement is found to be more serious, the police can issue him a notice under Section 160 of the CrPC, asking him to join investigation. This section does not presume arrest, there is only an apprehension, and the court cannot prejudge the issue, it said.

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Opposing the bail plea, the prosecution said it wanted to interrogate the accused in custody to establish the ownership of the gun, the place the crime was committed and the ownership of the vehicle used in the crime.

Counsel for All India Bishnoi Maha Sabha also opposed the bail plea saying the accused were ‘‘Very influential persons and there are apprehensions that they may manage something.’’

Counsel for the Wildlife Trust of India also opposed bail, saying, ‘‘The police have to find the spot from where the animals were shot.’’

Pataudi, along with seven others, was booked on June 5. He and his associates were apprehended on June 3. Search of their vehicles — a Gypsy and Honda Accord — had led to the recovery of two dead rabbits and the carcass of a black buck, besides some weapons.