Court grants interim bail to NV group chairman as he claims to have suicidal tendency

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 7

As NV Group Chairman Ashok Jain claimed he has a suicidal tendency, a local court in Panipat granted him interim bail in a liquor smuggling case.

The case was registered in 2019 as boxes of illegal liquor were found hidden along with cattle feed in a truck in Panipat. Jain was arrested in the case, registered for cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and Excise Act, last month.

Earlier, he had moved application for regular bail which was dismissed as withdrawn on October 30. After that he filed another application for interim bail on medical grounds.

During a hearing on November 6 before additional district and sessions judge Vimal Sapra, Dr Nikhil Raheja who had been treating Jain was also present.

He told the court that Jain “is aged about 72 years” and “he has a bipolar personality” and was suffering from anxiety disorder and panic attacks. He added that NV Group Chairman “has suicidal tendency and his psychotherapy and psychosocial intervention is being done”.

The court was also informed that “he had remained admitted in hospital on several occasions due to his ailment” and he was also being treated for “ectopic heart rhythms and sleep apnea”.

Dr Raheja further told the court that “if he is kept in judicial custody, his condition may deteriorate and he may collapse at any time”. He further stated that as Jain was suffering from mental illness, the jail authorities would be unable to provide the requisite treatment to him in the jail.

The judge observed, “The opinion of the doctor cannot be rebutted by the prosecution. The prosecution although filed reply to the application but the same is on merits and there is no whisper in it about the medical condition of the applicant. It has nowhere been verified by the prosecution that the applicant is not suffering from such illness as described by his doctor.”

The order said, “The doctor present in the Court has stated that at least three-week time shall be required for providing requisite treatment to the applicant. On his request, the application is allowed and the applicant is ordered to be released on interim bail.”

On the request of Jain’s counsel, the judge agreed for making effective the interim bail order from November 10 as accused was in custody in three other cases and applications for interim bail had been moved in those cases too. The interim bail would be till December 1.

The NV group has distilleries in Ambala (Haryana), Rajpura (Punjab), Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Goa and a bottling plant in Chandigarh.