Cooperating with probe does not mean accused has to make self-incriminating statements: Supreme Court

Cooperating with police probe does not mean that the accused is obligated to make self-incriminating statements, the Supreme Court recently said [Hemant Kumar vs State of Haryana]..A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and PV Sanjay Kumar, therefore, set aside an order refusing anticipatory bail to a man (petitioner) accused of inflating costs for construction of a municipal corporation building."In response to our query about the nature of such non-cooperation, it was submitted on behalf of the State that the appellant as an accused was not helping out for recovery of the sum allegedly paid to him as a bribe. In our opinion, however, participation in the investigation does not entail making self-incriminating statements, which seems to be the reason for which the State wants him in custody," the bench stated..The petitioner was accused of inflating the cost of construction of a ‘green building’ for the Sonepat Municipal Corporation.The Punjab and Haryana High Court had refused him anticipatory bail on December 5 leading to the instant appeal before the apex court. After examining the material before it, the top court noted that custodial interrogation of the petitioner would not be necessary for the probe. "There is no aggravating factor either, that would justify the detention of the appellant at the investigation stage ... We, accordingly, set aside the order of the High Court by which the pre-arrest bail to the appellant was denied," the Court ordered. .The appeal was, therefore, allowed and the trial court was directed to release the accused on bail subject to conditions it deems fit. The accused was directed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation..Senior Advocate SR Singh with advocates Sushant Kumar Yadav, Ajay Yadav, Prateek Yadav, Mangal Prasad, Gaurav Lomes, Prithvi Yadav, Swapnil Singh, Anurag Singh, Dhroov Kumar Singh and Ankur Yadav appeared for the accused.Additional Advocate General Dr. Hemant Gupta along with advocates Akshay Amritanshu, Samyak Jain, Shivang Jain, Ayush Raj, Monica Anand Kumar and Payal Gupta appeared for the Haryana government..[Read Order]