Noida: Scrap tycoon and UP Gangsters Act-accused Ravi Kana, who was released last month erroneously from Banda jail, got anticipatory bail from a sessions court here on Wednesday, giving him protection for the time being from being arrested.Police have been on the lookout for Kana since his Jan 29 release, following which a city court had sent the Banda jail superintendent a show-cause notice. The superintendent has been suspended. District and sessions judge Atul Srivastava ordered that if Kana is arrested, he should be released on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 35,000 and a surety. The judge, however, imposed conditions on Kana – that he will not influence any witnesses or any person related to the case and must appear before the investigating officer within seven days without waiting for notice. The court also forbade Kana from leaving the country without its permission.The bail was granted in connection with FIR number 20/2026 registered at Noida Sector 63 police station under BNS sections 351 (criminal intimidation), 308 (extortion) and 3(5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) on a complaint from Shailendra Sharma on Jan 14.It was in this case that a B-warrant was issued by the court for his production for remand and he was released by the jail authorities even though there was no court order to do so. A B-warrant is a directive to move a suspect already in custody for another legal proceeding.Kana’s counsel Lalit Mohan Gupta told TOI that he has been accused in 29 cases. “He has obtained bail in all the cases. When his release order reached Banda jail in connection with the last Gangsters Act case against him, police got this new case filed in Noida and tried to take him on remand. The matter was heard through video-conference by the court on Jan 29 but a decision was pending. However, jail authorities released him,” Gupta said.Kana filed the anticipatory bail application with the sessions court on Feb 2. Gupta argued that the Noida police commissioner has a personal grudge against Kana and had threatened him in prison and that two security guards provided to Kana were recalled by police. Pointing out that the Jan 14 FIR was filed three years after the other cases, Gupta told the court, “When police knew that my client obtained bail in all previous cases and was all set to be released from jail, this fresh case was registered with malicious intentions.“The Sector 63 FIR is against Pankaj Parashar and Kana. Complainant Sharma is a builder and owns Rhinos Group. He accused Parashar, who ran a news portal, of extorting him in 2021. While giving details of money transferred to his account, the complainant claimed that on the orders of Parashar, Kana issued threats to kill him several times.Govt’s counsel argued that allegations levelled by Kana against Noida police commissioner Laxmi Singh were baseless, pointing out that Singh was appointed in 2023, while Kana had 14 cases registered against him in before 2023 in NCR. Having heard both sides, the judge noted, “The incident occurred in 2021. The accused is not directly charged with putting someone in fear of death or grievous hurt. The charges against the accused, other than Section 308(5) of the IPC, are of a general nature.” The judge said without going into the merits of the case, as the offence is to be tried in a magistrate’s court, the accused could be allowed bail in the case.
