THE Supreme Court, on Wednesday, rapped the Uttar Pradesh government for not releasing a man arrested in connection with a Rs 3,500 crore Noida bike bot Ponzi scheme, despite its order a month ago.A three-judge bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar stopped short of imposing cost on the state government and said it is a serious matter."What are we hearing? One month ago, we passed the order and the man has not been released yet. Is this the position the state of UP is projecting before us. You will not release the person even after a month. It's a very serious issue," said the bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar.The top court noted that it had directed the release of accused Vijay Kumar Sharma on bail on December 13, 2021 and despite its order, he was not let out. Moreover, a magisterial court remanded him to further custody in violation of its order."We deprecate the conduct of the investigating officer and also express our serious reservation about the manner in which the magistrate mechanically proceeded to direct remand of the applicant disregarding the order passed by this court on December 13, 2021."We direct the investigating officer concerned to forthwith take steps to release the applicant and comply with the order of this court without any loss of time. We further direct the state officials of UP that such error or mistake should not be repeated in future despite an unambiguous order being passed by this court. Copy of order forward to secretary home department for further action," the bench said in its order.The top court said that it had passed the order with purpose and if the state now fails to comply with it, it will summon the concerned secretary. Additional Advocate General for Uttar Pradesh Vinod Diwakar assured the bench that the man will be released on Wednesday itself.The apex court on December 13, 2021, had directed the release of the petitioner on bail to the satisfaction of the concerned trial court. It had also said that until the next date of hearing, no precipitative steps be taken against the petitioner in respect of an FIR registered in Delhi by the police here..(With PTI inputs.)
