Mumbai: The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court recently allowed a man convicted of electricity theft to travel abroad for the Haj pilgrimage, noting that his appeal against the conviction is unlikely to be heard in the near future.
Justice Abhay Waghwase permitted 43-year-old Rahim Khan Sandu Khan, convicted in October 2016 under the provisions of the Indian Electricity Act for electricity theft, to travel for the religious pilgrimage from April 2025 to September 2025.
“As the criminal appeal (against conviction) is of the year 2016, and there is no immediate chance of appeal being taken for hearing, for religious purpose, application deserves to be allowed. Applicant is allowed to travel abroad from April 2025 to September 2025,” the judge said.
The court imposed conditions, emphasizing that Khan must provide an undertaking not to misuse the liberty granted. “Applicant shall furnish his undertaking of not misusing the liberty and shall supply details and itinerary of his journey, tickets and its dates, details of airlines, details of accommodation at Saudi Arabia, and also furnish details of the properties owned by him to the concerned police station and this Court, prior to his proposed pilgrimage,” Justice Waghwase directed.
Khan, a businessman, was booked for electricity theft in 2007 and sentenced to two years in prison by a sessions court in 2016. He challenged the conviction in the High Court the same year. On October 25, 2016, the High Court granted him bail and suspended his sentence pending the final hearing of his appeal.
Through his application in the pending appeal, Khan sought permission to travel abroad for Haj, arguing that his appeal was unlikely to be heard soon and that the pilgrimage was a compulsory religious obligation.
Taking note of these submissions, the court granted his request, stating: “In view of the grounds raised in the application, and as appeal is of the year 2016, and there is no immediate chance of appeal being taken for hearing, for religious purpose, application deserves to be allowed. Hence, the following order. Applicant is allowed to travel abroad from April 2025 to September 2025 is hereby granted on following condition that Applicant shall furnish his undertaking of not misusing the liberty and shall supply details and itinerary of his journey, tickets and its dates, details of airlines, details of accommodation at Saudi Arabia, and also furnish details of the properties owned by him to the concerned police station and this Court, prior to his proposed pilgrimage.”
