New Delhi, Feb 9 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a woman accused of duping a jeweller to the tune of over Rs two crore by impersonating the cousin of the King of Brunei who wanted to visit political leaders in India and gift them jewellery.

Justice Subramonium Prasad stated that although the petitioner woman -- Nancy Gill -- was allegedly the mastermind behind the plan to cheat the complainant jeweller, she cannot be kept behind the bars endlessly.

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The court noted that even after four years, the investigation was yet to be completed and directed that the petitioner be released on a personal bond of Rs one lakh with two sureties of the like amount.

The court said, "the material on record discloses that the petitioner played a crucial role in the commission of the alleged offences" pursuant to “methodical and intricate planning” which involved the petitioner purchasing another SIM to impersonate the cousin sister of the King of Brunei.

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“This Court is of the opinion that the Petitioner cannot be kept endlessly behind bars. When the right to a speedy trial is a concomitant of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, it can be presumed that one of the facets would also be that the accused cannot be kept in custody indefinitely. The Petitioner has already spent more than one-fourth of the maximum period of imprisonment in custody,” the court said in its order passed on February 8.

“There is weight in the submission of the learned Counsel of the Petitioner that even if she is convicted, the Petitioner would be subjected to imprisonment for a maximum of seven years, out of which she has already spent two years in custody. Even after four years, the investigation has not been completed,” it added.

The court directed the petitioner to surrender her passport before the trial court and drop a pin location on Google Maps so that her status is available to the Investigating Officer at all times.

The court clarified that if any instance of the petitioner threatening her family members or the complainant comes to light or if false cases are filed against the complainant or his family members by her or at her instance, the bail would stand cancelled forthwith.

The petitioner sought bail in the matter on the ground that no recovery was made from her and the complainant along with her (Gill's) husband has conspired to falsely implicate her in the case.

The complainant jeweller alleged that in March 2015, the petitioner, who was known him, told him about a big project and dishonestly represented that the Prime Minister of India had started a programme pursuant to which the King of Brunei was going to start 14 super-specialty hospitals in the country.

The complainant claimed that the petitioner stated that she met the cousin sister of the King of Brunei who wanted to visit political leaders in India and gift them jewellery.

He stated that he was subsequently induced by the petitioner to accept an order worth more than one crore rupee without taking any advance while agreeing to give her a five per cent commission.

After no payment was received by him for the jewellery, it was realized that the story involving the King of Brunei was concocted to dupe him, the complainant submitted.

Consequently, an FIR was registered for the alleged commission of the offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)