Gauhati High Court Grants Bail to Forest Officer- Sibasish Sandilya in Bribery Case

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has given bail to Sibasish Sandilya, the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range, who was arrested in the month of May, regarding bribery case that the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption registered.

The Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya will be released on bail after paying a bond of Rs 50,000 and giving one surety of the amount that the Court of the Special Judge, Assam finds acceptable.

The case, which is registered as ACB Police Station Case No. 07/2026 Is about the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya allegedly breaking the law under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

While granting the bail to the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya it found that there were differences between the time the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya was caught and the time written in the arrest memo.

The High Court looked at the Supreme Court judgment in the DK Basu vs State of West Bengal case from 1997 and said that these mistakes meant that the rights given by the Constitution under Article 21 were not followed.

The court also said that the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya was held for long and that there were mistakes in the arrest process, which were good reasons to give bail to the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya.

During the trial the lawyer for the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya, B.K. Mahajan said that the arrest did not follow the required laws, for arrest and detention and so it went against the rights given by Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution.

However the Additional Public Prosecutor, K.K. Das said that all the legal steps were taken and the arrest of the Forest Range Officer of the North Lakhimpur Range Sibasish Sandilya was valid.

Sandilya was arrested on 1st May after he was allegedly caught accepting a bribe during a trap operation conducted by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption. Although investigators recorded his formal arrest at 8 p.m., the defence questioned the delay between his apprehension and the preparation of the arrest memo. This contention ultimately found favour with the High Court.

An officer of the Assam Forest Service and the topper of the 2020 APSC Forest Service examination, Sandilya is accused of demanding illegal gratification from a complainant in exchange for allowing the unhindered movement of vehicles transporting forest materials.

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