Successive bail on fresh circumstances: court found no real flight risk and granted release with conditions.

A fresh or successive bail application was held maintainable where later developments and new materials altered the factual position. The Court found that delay in trial, the absence of a real and reasonable apprehension of absconding, the accused's assets and business ties in India, the reversal of the credit entry, and the limited utility of continued detention all reduced the basis for pre-trial custody. Personal liberty was balanced against securing attendance at trial, and bail could not be refused on assumed apprehension or gravity alone when the detention rationale had materially changed. Bail was granted on bond, sureties, passport surrender, and reporting conditions.

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Issues: Whether a second or successive bail application could be entertained on the basis of fresh circumstances, and whether bail should be granted in view of the reduced apprehension of flight from justice and the other changed circumstances.

Analysis: A prior rejection of bail did not bar reconsideration where new materials, later developments, and different considerations had emerged. The relevant factors were the lapse of time without trial, the absence of a real and reasonable apprehension that the accused would abscond, the petitioner's substantial assets and business interests in India, the reversal of the credit entry, and the fact that the petitioner's continued detention would not serve the recovery of the alleged liability. The Court treated personal liberty as requiring a practical balance with the need to secure presence at trial, and held that bail could not be refused merely on an assumed apprehension or on gravity alone where the factual basis for detention had materially changed.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to bail and was directed to be released on furnishing the prescribed bond and sureties, along with conditions including surrender of passport and reporting requirements.

Final Conclusion: Successive bail was allowed on the footing of fresh circumstances, and the Court found no sufficient basis to continue pre-trial detention.

Ratio Decidendi: A fresh bail application is maintainable on later developments, and bail cannot be denied unless there is a real and reasonable likelihood of flight from justice or tampering with evidence, assessed on the facts and circumstances then prevailing.

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