Jaipur: Supreme Court has granted bail to an accused in two Jaipur land fraud cases, ruling that Rajasthan High Court went beyond the scope of a bail hearing by examining the merits of the allegations while rejecting his plea.In an order dated Aug 4, uploaded Thursday, a bench comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Atul S Chandurkar overturned the high court’s April 23 decision and instructed that accused Shyam Lal Meena be presented before the trial court within seven days for release under appropriate bail conditions.The cases arise from two FIRs filed at the Ramnagariya police station in Jaipur (East), encompassing charges such as cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery and criminal conspiracy.Meena sought bail in Rajasthan High Court, but his applications were denied, prompting an appeal to Supreme Court. Advocate Deepak Chauhan, representing Meena, argued that the alleged actions of his family members were not attributable to him, saying, “If any cheating occurred, it was committed by the housing society and not the original khatedars.”Chauhan further noted that Meena had been in judicial custody since Nov 4, the investigation was complete, and charges were yet to be framed, warranting his release.The state opposed the plea, citing the scale of the alleged fraud and Meena’s criminal history as reasons to deny bail.In allowing the appeal, Supreme Court stated, “The Rajasthan High Court had gone deep into the merits of the allegations while deciding bail applications—an exercise that should have been avoided at the bail stage.”
