Sukumar Jain v. Union of India
(2021) 166 ACC 192
In the High Court of Allahabad
B.A. 5883/2020
Before Justice Alok Mathur
Decided on February 12, 2021

Relevancy of the case: Bail application in a case involving the alteration of the amount available in Post Office accounts

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 120B, 201, 204, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 477A)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 82)
• The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Section 13)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The postal department had outsourced the process of digitalisation of the entire records of the Head Post Office, Lalitpur, to a third party.
• The accused installed a data entry module in the Account Branch and other systems at the Head Post Office.
• Using this module, the accused conspired with other co-accused persons and altered the amount available in accounts.
• Further, the accused persons facilitated the withdrawal of large amounts of money with the help of National Savings Agents.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that there was a misuse of the passwords given to the third-party company during the digitalisation process. They have misused IDs and passwords, and hence, the applicant is not responsible.
• The counsel further submitted that the petitioner is 65 years old. Also, CBI filed the chargesheet four years after his retirement.
• Moreover, the counsel argued on the requirement of a prior sanction for prosecution under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
• The respondent’s counsel opposed the anticipatory bail application. He submitted that the involvement of the petitioner is apparent in the charge sheet. The trial court has only issued a non-bailable warrant due to the non-appearance of the accused.

Opinion of the Bench

• The respondent’s counsel has not been able to point out any substantial grounds for not granting bail to the applicant.

Final Decision

• The bench allowed the bail application with conditions.

Marc Pereira, an undergraduate student at Rizvi Law College, Mumbai, prepared this case summary during his internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2022.