Person Unable To Find A Surety Can Take Benefit Of S. 445 CrPC: Ut'khand HC Permits A Foreigner To Deposit Cash Amount For Bail

The Bench of Justice Alok Kumar Verma, while allowing him to take recourse of Section 445 of CrPC, further observed,

"The applicant-accused is a foreigner and he is not able to furnish sureties. The same does not debar him from being admitted to bail."

[NOTE: As per the mandate of Section 441 of the CrPC, before any person is released on bail or released on his own bond, a bond for such sum of money as the police officer or court, as the case may be, thinks sufficient, shall be executed by such person.

However, when a person so directed to execute the bond either with surety or without surety is unable to furnish surety, then taking the recourse of Section 445 of the Code, he/she could be permitted to deposit a sum of money or Government promissory note (in lieu of executing surety bonds to obtain bail)]

The matter before the Court

The Court was hearing an application filed by the applicant-accused (a foreign national) to set aside the order dated 08^th October 2020 passed by ACJM, Kashipur, whereby, his application for bail, after depositing cash amount in lieu of executing surety bond, was rejected.

Earlier, on 23^rd July 2020, he was granted regular bail by the High Court in connection with Case Crime No.44 of 2019 for the offence punishable under Sections 420, 120-B of the I.P.C. Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act.

The said Bail Application was allowed by the High Court on the condition that applicant-accused would furnish surety bond.

However, since his passport was deposited before the concerned Magistrate and because the applicant is A foreigner, he was unable to arrange sureties.

Therefore, he offered to deposit cash amount in lieu of executing surety bond. The said prayer of the applicant-accused was rejected by the ACJM, Kashipur in the impugned order dated 08^th October 2020.

Court's Order

The Court noted that in the first instance, he was directed to furnish surety bond and when he was unable to execute surety bond, he offered to deposit cash sure.

The Court further said that Section 445 CrPC is meant for the benefit of the person who is unable to find a surety and just because the applicant-accused is a foreigner and thus, he is not able to furnish sureties, the same wouldn't debar him from being admitted to bail.

Thus, in the facts and circumstances of the case, the order dated 08^th October 2020 passed by ACJM, Kashipur in Criminal Case 4069 of 2019 was set aside.

The applicant-accused was permitted to deposit the cash amount, a reasonable amount, to the satisfaction of the court concerned, in lieu of executing surety bonds.Accordingly, the Criminal Misc. Application stood allowed.

Case title - David Morrison v. State of Uttarakhand [Criminal Misc. Application No. 902 Of 2020]

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