Staff Reporter
Guwahati: USTM chancellor Mahbubul Hoque was allowed to go on interim bail as the Gauhati High Court recently held that the ends of justice do not justify curtailing the liberty of the petitioner in the instant given facts of the case. He was granted interim bail on furnishing a surety of Rs. 50,000, with a surety of a like amount.
Justice Mitali Thakuria issued the order in the bail application (841/2025) filed under Section 483 of BNSS, 2023, praying for the grant of bail to petitioner Hoque, who had been arrested in connection with Dhekiajuli P.S. Case No. 55/2025, under Sections 318(4)/316(5)/336(3) of BNS and Section 11(1) of the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
Significantly, Hoque, along with some others, was arrested on the basis of certain allegations and forwarded to judicial custody on February 22, 2025, and since then, he has been in custody.
Senior Counsel for the petitioner submitted that prior to lodging the present FIR, the authorities concerned had lodged two FIRs for the same cause of action, which were registered as Patharkandi P.S. Case No. 54/2025 and Patharkandi P.S. Case No. 55/2025. In the Patharkandi P.S. Case No. 55/2025, it is alleged that out of 274 students who appeared in the Class 12th Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Physics Exam at Central Public School (CPS), Patharkandi, 15 students were from Adarsha Bidyalaya, Patharkandi, and 45 students were from CPS, Patharkandi, and the other 214 students were enrolled as students of CPS, Patharkandi, but they never attended any classes in CPS, Patharkandi, and did their classes throughout the period at Vision-50, a special coaching program under the University of Science and Technology (USTM).
That the law and order situation was created by these 214 students for not being provided the assistance by the invigilators at the time of the 12th examination which was promised to them at the time of admission and some of them were unaware that they were enrolled in CPS, Patharkandi, instead of Vision-50, USTM; that some students paid Rs. 5,00,000 to USTM to pass the examination and Mahbubul Hoque, who is the Founder Chancellor of the USTM, along with other authorities, cheated by breaching the trust of the students.
Although arrested on the basis of the complaints, the Co-ordinate Benches of this Court granted bail to the petitioner in both the cases.
Relying upon the above-referred judgements, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that from the bare reading of all the FIRs, it is very much evident that they had arisen out of the same cause of action as that under the jurisdiction of Patharkandi Police Station. The FIR in the Dhekiajuli Police Station was lodged on the same allegation, although no such cause of action has taken place.
Further, it was submitted that at the time of pendency of the bail application before the Trial Court, the informant filed an affidavit sworn by him stating that he lodged the FIR only under coercion/undue influence by police personnel and other authorities and on some misconceptions.
Following the discussions, the court observed that the petitioner has made out a strong case for the grant of bail, but for abundant caution it was felt just and proper to go through the case diary. However, the ends of justice do not justify curtailing the liberty of the petitioner in the instant case, given the facts, the court noted while granting Hoque interim bail in the case.
The matter is next listed on April 9, 2025, for production of the case diary.
Also Read: Assam: Sonitpur Court Denies Bail to USTM Chancellor in Fraud Case
Also Watch: