Crude oil theft case: High court grants bail to 33
Amid preparations to invoke RAJPASA (Rajasthan PreventionofAnti-Social ActivitiesAct,2006)againsttheaccused intheBarmercrudeoiltheftcase, theRajasthanhighcourtonMonday granted bail to 33 of the total 36 accused. However, additional advocategeneral(AAG)KLThakurprotestedthebailstatingthat oilisapreciousmineralresource and its theft is against the national interest.
The court, however, granted bail to the accused mentioning thattheyareinjailsinceJuly2017 andthetrial is likely to taketime. Whilegrantingthebailthe court said that the petitioners are not required for the investigation and also no apprehension has beenraisedthattheaccusedmay abscond.
Earlier, after hearing the case on November 6 the decision was reserved for November 20.
On Monday, AAG Thakur stated that offence is against the state and involves precious mineral. He also informed the court that the act has been done in a well-plannedmanner.Hetoldthe court that the accusedconspired in a manner defeating the modern techniques like GPS etc.
The AAG also referred to the high profile ‘Vaman Narain Ghiya Vs. State of Rajasthan’ case, reported in (2009) 2 SCC281, in which the bail application of theaccusedhadbeenrejectedon thegroundthatseveralnefarious activities of smuggling of antiques, particularly idols, had been committed.
Thepetitioners’advocatestold the court that no theft has been made out in this case. They arguedthatfromthecasediaryit isn’t clear what the nature of crude is and the stock register clearly pointedoutthatthedelivery of the liquid wasinorderand matchingwitheachother,which reflectedthatnooffencehasbeen made out. They further submitted that the petitioners were involved in crudeoil transportation.
The advocates of the accused pleaded that a challan has alreadybeenfiledinthecaseand the trial is likely to take a long time, and all the alleged offences are triable by the magistrate, therefore bail shouldbegranted.
Afterhearingboththeparties, the court granted bail to the accused. The court also mentioned that the precedent law citedbytheAAGisnotapplicable to the present set of circumstances.
On July 22, the Barmer police unearthed a criminal syndicate accusedofsmugglingmorethan 50millionlitresofcrudeoilinside water tankers from India’s largest onshore oilfield in Barmer.
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