Trial Court denies bail to lady accused of stealing Laptops, iPads from Delhi HC complex

New Delhi: The Patiala House Court on Monday denied the second bail application of the lady who is accused of stealing laptops and iPads from the Delhi High Court complex. 

Patiala House Court took note of the seriousness and gravity of the offence.
Metropolitan Magistrate Kapil Gupta on Monday while denying bail said, the allegations levelled against the accused are grave and serious in nature and the co-accused has not yet been arrested.

The contention that the accused has been falsely implicated at the behest of her landlord bears no relevance to the present application, in the facts and circumstances of the case. Moreover, the investigation appears to be still pending and the charge sheet has not yet been filed, the Court noted. 
"Furthermore, there is a possibility that the accused may induce or threaten witnesses and could even tamper with the evidence. The accused is also involved in another case," the court said. 
"Considering the facts and circumstances of the present case and in view of the above discussion, no ground for bail is made out in favour of the accused at this juncture and thus, the bail application of the Balasaraswathy applicant/accused is dismissed," the court ordered.

Earlier, the Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Parad Dalal while denying bail said, having considered the seriousness of the allegations, this court deems it appropriate to commit the accused to judicial custody since the apprehension of the Investigation Officer is true that once released on bail, the accused may abscond and even threaten the witness or indulge in similar offence vide same modus operandi.

During the arguments, the lawyer appeared for the lady and submitted that the applicant had been falsely implicated at the behest of the landlord of the accused and there are multiple litigations pending between the landlord and the accused.
He further argued that the accused has been in Judicial Custody since August 12, 2023. It was also contended that the applicant / accused is nowhere visible in the CCTV footage.

The incident occurred on July 10 when the bag containing the laptop and iPad of a law intern was stolen from the first floor of the main building of the High Court. The CCTV footage clearly shows the accused lifting the bag and then taking an auto from Gate No 7 of the High Court, stating the Lawyers appeared for the complainant.

Prabhav Ralli and Stuti Gupta, Advocates representing the complainant, submitted that the accused lady was a habitual offender and was involved in various incidents of theft having taken place in the Delhi High Court.

It was further submitted that such incidents were creating fear amongst practising lawyers who carry bags and laptops on a daily basis.
Delhi Police while opposing the bail plea stated that the accused has been non-cooperative throughout the investigation. After her identity was established, she was served notice to join the investigation, yet she failed and when the police officials reached her house, she refused to join the investigation and even resisted the police officers in the investigation.

The Investigation Officer further stated that the accused refused to share her details and as much as failed to provide any identity proof.