In Brief
Braja Mohan Pattnaik and Tridhara Mohanty @ Pattnaik were arrested in November 2018 in connection with a prize chits scheme case involving alleged embezzlement of approximately Rs. 4.31 crores. The High Court granted bail but imposed onerous conditions requiring substantial cash deposits (totalling about Rs. 90 lakhs) alongside property security. The appellants challenged these conditions as impossible to comply with, effectively denying them bail. The Supreme Court allowed the appeals, modifying the bail conditions to permit the appellants to offer property security valued at Rs. 3 crores instead of the prescribed cash deposits, to be satisfied by the Trial Court. Other appropriate conditions to ensure the appellants' presence could still be imposed.
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