Rajesh Kumar Pandey/TNN
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has modified the bail conditions imposed on a Chinese national accused in a GST evasion case after finding that she remained in jail for nearly five months despite being granted bail because the Chinese Embassy refused to issue a guarantee certificate that the applicant will attend her trial.After modification of earlier condition, the HC has removed the guarantee certificate and, therefore, the Chinese national will be released on bail.Justice Samit Gopal passed the order while allowing a modification application filed by Alice Lee alias Li Tengli, who was granted bail on Feb 9 but could not secure her release as one of the bail conditions required her to produce a certificate from the Chinese embassy assuring the trial court of her appearance during the proceedings.According to the applicant, she approached the embassy in compliance with the bail order. However, the embassy rejected her request, stating, “The embassy wishes to state that in accordance with its functions and powers ofconsular responsibilities, the embassy is unable to issue such relevant guarantee certificates.”The accused-applicant contended that because of the embassy’s refusal, she was unable to comply with conditions imposed by the court in its earlier bail order and therefore remained in custody even after bail was granted. During the course of hearing, the counsel for Union of India placed before the court a communication from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), informing that the accused-applicant had since been granted an X-Misc. Visa, which is valid till Oct 28, 2026, with the endorsement “no departure allowed without exit permit.”The court passed the order on July 14. An X-Misc. visa is granted to a foreign national who is involved in acriminal case and subsequently released on bail and whose presence is required to attend court proceedings in India.
