HC quashes bail to IAS officer accused in abetment of suicide case
Itanagar (PTI): The Gauhati High Court's Itanagar Bench quashed the bail granted to IAS officer Talo Potom, accused in a high-profile abetment to suicide case, directing that he be taken into custody with immediate effect.
In an order, Justice Yarenjungla Longkumer on Friday held that the trial court had ignored crucial evidence and legal principles while granting bail to the accused in November last year.
The court termed the earlier order 'perverse' and said it was passed without proper application of mind.
The case relates to the suicide of Gomchu Yekar in October 2025 at his rented residence in Lekhi village. His father, Tagom Yekar, had moved the High Court seeking cancellation of bail, alleging systematic mental harassment, sexual exploitation, and corruption-related pressure by the accused, which was mentioned in the suicide notes left behind by the deceased.
During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel argued that the accused, a senior public servant, was granted bail within seven days of arrest, despite the investigation being at a preliminary stage. It was also submitted that deleted WhatsApp chats and voice messages were still under forensic examination.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) informed the court that forensic analysis had confirmed the suicide notes to be in the deceased's handwriting. It also stated that custodial interrogation could not be conducted earlier due to law and order concerns.
Observing that the lower court had conducted a 'mini trial' at the bail stage and even speculated about the victim's mental health without evidence, the High Court said such findings were unwarranted and legally flawed.
"The offence had shocked the collective conscience of society and involved an influential person. Releasing him at such a nascent stage of investigation could derail the probe," the court noted.
The bench set aside the November 2025 bail order and directed the immediate arrest of the accused. However, it granted him liberty to apply for fresh bail before the trial court, if advised.
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Can't say when I'll return to India; legally barred from leaving UK: Mallya to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the UK.
In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the high court, Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made it clear last week that it would not hear Mallya's plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India.
The court had then asked the former liquor to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The 70-year-old liquor baron is accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments of several thousand crores and facing money laundering charges.
The businessman, in his statement to HC, said he cannot give a definite date for his return as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out the statement in the court.
The senior counsel reiterated that Mallya's presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
"If he (Mallya) were to appear in India, then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law, then all these orders would be set aside," Desai told the court.
The bench directed the Union government to file its reply to Mallya's statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The businessman left India in March 2016.
