Delhi Court Denies Bail to Shoib Malik in Fake Currency Case
Justice Shalinder Kaur delivered her July 16 verdict, released on Thursday, while dealing with Shoib Malik’s plea against the city court’s March 20 order denying him bail.
The Delhi police special cell had named Malik as a co-accused in the first information report (FIR) registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 489A (counterfeiting currency notes), 489D (making or possessing instruments for forging or counterfeiting notes), and 120B (criminal conspiracy). The cops had alleged that Malik was a part of a larger syndicate involved in the circulation and printing of fake Indian currency notes.
Contention for Bail
In his petition, Malik had claimed that the police did not have evidence to prove possession of the FCIN or his connection with the offence. He further submitted that he had already undergone more than 2 years of custody and no purpose would be served by keeping him in jail.
The Delhi police opposed the bail, asserting that Malik was not merely involved in possessing FCIN, but also in its printing and circulation. He further submitted that the cops at the time of his arrest had recovered FCIN amounting to ₹73,000 at the time of his arrest from his residence and had committed an offence jeopardizing the country’s economic security.
Court’s Decision
Agreeing with the police’s submissions, Justice Kaur held, “The present case raises a grave concern regarding the involvement of the petitioner along with co-accused persons to print, distribute, and circulate not only FICNs but US dollars as well. Indeed, the circulation of fake currency causes a severe threat to the economy of the country, thus being detrimental to the financial regulation of currency in the country.”
The judge noted that such offenses also fuel other illegal activities like drug smuggling, arms trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking.
“Moreover, such kind of offense further facilitates other illegal activities such as smuggling of drugs, purchase of illegal arms and ammunition, cross-border money laundering, human trafficking etc. The purpose to enact the provision of Sections 498A, 489B, 489C, 489D, and 489E of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, (now Sections 178, 179, 180, 181, and 182 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023) is to safeguard the economy of the country and such illegal activities which destabilize the economy,” the court maintained.
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