TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (12) TMI 1624
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ffences punishable Under Sections 120-B read with Sections 420, 409 Indian Penal Code and Sections 9, 12, 13(2) read with 13(1)(c) and Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. That, by an order dated 07.06.2019 the Appellant has been granted the bail. However, pursuant to the directions issued by the High Court, the Appellant is required to attend the learned Trial Court on every Friday. It is the case on behalf of the Appellant-original Accused No. 3 that since 2013 the Appellant has been remaining present before the learned Trial Court on every Friday. 3.1. That the Appellant submitted an application before the learned Trial Court Under Section 205 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for dispensing with his personal appearance/attendance. It was submitted on behalf of the Appellant that he is the Director on the boards of several companies and is pre-occupied with the management and attending day-to-day affairs on account of business exigencies of the companies. It was also submitted on behalf of the Appellant that for attending the learned Trial Court on every Friday, he is required to travel from Delhi to Hyderabad spending not less than two days. Therefore, it was the ca....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....at he shall appear through advocate and that he has no objection if the evidence is recorded in his absence. It is submitted on behalf of the Appellant that he shall remain present before the Court as and when required and ordered by the learned Trial Court. It is further submitted on behalf of the Appellant that he is ready and willing to abide by any other conditions which may be imposed by this Court and which may deem fit and proper. 4.2. It is further submitted by the learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the Appellant that in fact the learned Trial Court has already granted permanent exemption from personal appearance to two of the Accused persons in cases arising out of the same FIR and on the ground of their business commitments, though in fact both of them are based at Hyderabad only. 4.3. The learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the Appellant has also relied upon the decisions of this Court in Bhaskar Industries Ltd. v. Bhiwani Denim & Apparels Ltd. (2001) 7 SCC 401 and Rameshwar Yadav v. State of Bihar (2018) 4 SCC 608 in support of the prayer to dispense with the presence of the Appellant before the learned Trial Court on every Friday. 4.4. Making the above submis....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....le Instruments Act and in Rameshwar Yadav (supra), it was a case for the offences Under Section 498-A Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. It is submitted that, in the present case, the allegations against the Appellant are for the offences punishable Under Sections 120-B read with Sections 420 and 409 Indian Penal Code and Sections 9, 12, 13(2) read with Sections 13(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Therefore, it is prayed to dismiss the present appeal. 6. Heard learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the respective parties at length. At the outset, it is required to be noted that the Appellant is required to appear before the learned Trial Court on every Friday and the Appellant as such is appearing before the learned Trial Court on each and every Friday since 2013. Nothing is on record that at any point of time the Appellant has tried to delay the trial. The Appellant is represented through his counsel. The Appellant is a permanent resident of Delhi. He is the Director on the Boards of several companies. The distance between Delhi and Hyderabad is approximately 1500 kms. Therefore, the Appellant sought for exemption from personal appeara....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....that particular case. 17. Thus, in appropriate cases the Magistrate can allow an Accused to make even the first appearance through a counsel. The Magistrate is empowered to record the plea of the Accused even when his counsel makes such plea on behalf of the Accused in a case where the personal appearance of the Accused is dispensed with. Section 317 of the Code has to be viewed in the above perspective as it empowers the court to dispense with the personal attendance of the Accused (provided he is represented by a counsel in that case) even for proceeding with the further steps in the case. However, one precaution which the court should take in such a situation is that the said benefit need be granted only to an Accused who gives an undertaking to the satisfaction of the court that he would not dispute his identity as the particular Accused in the case, and that a counsel on his behalf would be present in court and that he has no objection in taking evidence in his absence. This precaution is necessary for the further progress of the proceedings including examination of the witnesses. 18. A question could legitimately be asked--what might ha....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....this stage, it is required to be noted that nothing is on record that, at any point of time, any effort has been made by the Appellant to stall/delay the trial. At this stage, it is required to be noted that in case of other two co-Accused in cases arising of the same FIR, the applications for exemption on the very same grounds have been allowed-one by the High Court and another by the learned Trial Court. 7. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above and considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the present appeal is allowed. The impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court as well as that of the learned Trial Court rejecting the application submitted by the Appellant Under Section 205 Code of Criminal Procedure are hereby quashed and set aside and consequently the application submitted by the Appellant to dispense with his appearance before the learned Trial Court on all dates of adjournments and permitting his counsel Sri Bharadwaj Reddy to appear on his behalf is herby allowed on the following conditions: (1) That the Appellant shall give an undertaking to the learned Trial Court that he would not dispute his identity in the ca....