High Court of Gujarat
VALIKHAN BHIKHUBHAI PATHAN(AS PER ORDER)versusSTATE OF GUJARAT
- Disposal
- 38-RULE ABSOLUTE/ALLOWED @ FH
- Bench
- HASMUKH D SUTHAR
Holding
The Court held that regular bail should be granted as the applicant satisfied the criteria under Section 483 BNSS and there was no sufficient ground to deny liberty.
Summary
The High Court of Gujarat entertained a regular bail application filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in connection with an FIR alleging impersonation of LCB officials, extortion and other offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The applicant, Valikhan Bhikhubhai Pathan, claimed innocence and argued that a substantial part of the investigation was complete, while the State contended that he played an active role in serious crimes. The Court examined the standard bail factors – nature of the accusation, risk of witness tampering, likelihood of absconding, character of the accused and public interest – and noted the applicant’s clean antecedent record and the parity with co‑accused already on bail. Relying on precedents such as Sanjay Chandra v. CBI and Gudikanti Narasimhulu v. Public Prosecutor, the Court held that pre‑trial detention would amount to a de facto conviction. Consequently, the Court granted regular bail on a personal bond of Rs.25,000 with a surety and imposed several conditions, including surrender of passport and periodic police reporting.
Issues considered
- Whether regular bail can be granted under Section 483 BNSS before the filing of a chargesheet.
- Whether the nature of the offences and the applicant's alleged involvement justify denial of bail.
- Whether the risk of witness tampering, absconding, or prejudice to the trial outweighs the presumption of liberty.
Legislation cited
Subjects
regular bailpre‑trial detentionimpersonationextortionBNSSBharatiya Nyaya Sanhitapersonal libertyArticle 21
Judgment
R/CR.MA/17202/2026 ORDER DATED: 27/07/2026
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR REGULAR BAIL - BEFORE
CHARGESHEET) NO. 17202 of 2026
==============================================
VALIKHAN BHIKHUBHAI PATHAN(AS PER ORDER)
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
==============================================
Appearance:
MR GAURAV CHUDASAMA(5660) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR HK PATEL, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
==============================================
CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HASMUKH D. SUTHAR
Date : 27/07/2026
ORDER
Learned Advocate Mr. D. S. Gadhvi, states that he has
instructions to appear on behalf of the original complainant and
thereby, seeks permission to file his Vakalatnama. The Registry
is directed to accept the Vakalatnama.
1) RULE. Learned APP waives service of rule for the respondent-State.
2) The present application is filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya
Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short “BNSS”) for regular bail
in connection with FIR being C.R. No.11195055260432 of 2026
registered with Vadgam Police Station, District - Banaskantha,
for the offence under Sections 308(2), 308(6), 308(7), 351(2),
351(3), 204 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
3) Learned advocate appearing on behalf of the applicant submits that
applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the offence.
Substantial part of investigation is over. He therefore submits that,
considering the nature of the offence, the applicants may be
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R/CR.MA/17202/2026 ORDER DATED: 27/07/2026
enlarged on regular bail by imposing suitable conditions.
4) Learned APP appearing on behalf of the respondent-State has
opposed the present application and submitted that, the applicant
is involved in serious offence and has played active role in the
commission of the present offence. Considering the conduct of the
applicant, application does not deserve any consideration.
5) While granting bail, the Court has to consider the involvement of
the accused in the alleged offence, the jurisdiction to grant bail has
to be exercised on the basis of the well settled principles having
regard to the facts and circumstances of each case and the
following factors are to be taken into consideration while
considering an application for bail: (i) the nature of accusation and
the severity of the punishment and the nature of the materials
relied upon by the prosecution; (ii) reasonable apprehension of
tampering with the witnesses and threat to the complainant or the
witnesses; (iii) reasonable possibility of securing the presence of
the accused at the time of trial or the likelihood of his abscondence;
(iv) character behaviour and standing of the accused and the
circumstances which are peculiar to the accused; (v) larger interest
of the public or the State and similar other considerations are
required to be considered.
6) I have heard the learned advocates appearing on behalf of the
respective parties and perused the investigation papers. Following
aspects have been considered:
(1) The accused persons impersonated and identified
themselves as officials of LCB before the complainant and
administered threats to the complainant to enrope in rape
case and demanded Rs.15 lakhs and lastly extorted Rs.5
lakhs. The applicant was impersonated as LCB Officer.;
(2) Substantial part of investigation is over;
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R/CR.MA/17202/2026 ORDER DATED: 27/07/2026
(3) Applicant is behind the bar since 16.06.2026;
(4) The applicant has no past antecedents;
(5) There is nothing to be recovered or discovered from the
applicant;
(6) Obviously commencement and conclusion of trial will take
some time.;
(7) Co-accused having similarly situated role are enlarged on
regular bail and therefore, on the ground of parity also
(Rameshbhai Batubhai Dhabi Vs. State of Gujarat
reported in 2011 (3) GLR 1999), present application
deserves consideration.
7) This Court has also taken into consideration the law laid down by
the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sanjay Chandra vs. Central
Bureau of Investigation reported in [2012]1 SCC 40 as well as
in the case of Gudikanti Narasimhulu And Ors vs. Public
Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh reported in
(1978)1 SCC 240. Obviously, the conclusion of trial will take time
and keeping the accused behind the bars is nothing but amounts to
pre-trial conviction and therefore, considering the celebrated
principle of bail jurisprudence is that “bail is a rule and jail is
exception” as well as the concept of personal liberty guaranteed
under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, present application
deserves consideration.
8) In the facts and circumstances of the case and considering the
nature of the allegations made against the applicant in the FIR,
without discussing the evidence in detail, prima facie, this Court is
of the opinion that this is a fit case to exercise the discretion and
enlarge the applicant on regular bail. Hence, the present application
is allowed. The applicant is ordered to be released on regular bail in
connection with FIR being C.R. No.11195055260432 of 2026
registered with Vadgam Police Station, District - Banaskantha
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R/CR.MA/17202/2026 ORDER DATED: 27/07/2026
on executing a personal bond of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty-five
Thousand only) with one surety of the like amount to the
satisfaction of the trial Court and subject to the conditions that he
shall;
(a) not take undue advantage of liberty or misuse liberty;
(b) not act in a manner injurious to the interest of the
prosecution & shall not obstruct or hamper the police
investigation and shall not to play mischief with the
evidence collected or yet to be collected by the police;
(c) surrender passport, if any, to the Trial Court within a
week;
(d) not to leave State of Gujarat without prior permission of
the Trial Court concerned;
(e) mark presence before the concerned Police Station once in
a week till filing of the chargesheet and after filing of the
chargesheet, mark presence before the concerned police
station once in a month for a period of six months;
(f) furnish the Aadhar card, email ID/present address of his
residence to the Investigating Officer and also to the Court
at the time of execution of the bond and shall not change
the residence/contact number without prior permission of
Trial Court;
(g) if the applicant is found to be indulged in any illegal
activities in future, the trial Court concerned will be free to
issue warrant and cancel the bail granted to the applicant.
9) The authorities will release the applicant only if he is not required in
connection with any other offence for the time being. If breach of
any of the above conditions is committed, the Sessions Judge
concerned will be free to issue warrant or take appropriate action in
the matter.
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R/CR.MA/17202/2026 ORDER DATED: 27/07/2026
10) Bail bond to be executed before the lower Court having jurisdiction
to try the case. It will be open for the concerned Court to delete,
modify and/or relax any of the above conditions, in accordance with
law.
11) At the trial, the trial Court shall not be influenced by the
observations of preliminary nature qua the evidence at this stage
made by this Court while enlarging the applicant on bail.
12) Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent. Direct service is
permitted.
(HASMUKH D. SUTHAR,J)
ANKIT JANSARI
Original copy of this order has been signed by the Hon'ble Judge.
Digitally signed by: ANKIT YOGESHBHAI JANSARI(HCW0109), ENGLISH STENOGRAPHER GRADE ONE, at High Court of Gujarat on 27/07/2026 14:51:26
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