A man who is accused of stealing confidential information from pharma major Torrent Pharmaceuticals and allegedly demanding Rs 6 crore for not disclosing it, has been allowed to temporarily leave Gujarat to care for his son who recently met with an accident, and his wife who is suffering from various ailments.The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday (September 16) suspended for one month a condition imposed on K Lokanath Subudhi requiring him to not leave Gujarat without permission from the trial court after his lawyer informed the court of his difficulties.The order was passed on Subudhi’s application seeking the deletion of this condition in the August 11 bail order of the HC.Justice Hasmukh D Suthar held that Subudhi’s presence was “necessary” to attend to his family, but instead of deleting the condition, the court suspended its operation for one month from September 16.Alleged theft and ‘blackmail’The case was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Ahmedabad under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) relating to theft, extortion, and criminal breach of trust by (an employee), along with provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act), which deal with unauthorised access or damage to computer systems, computer-related offences, tampering with computer source documents and fraudulent use of electronic authentication credentials.According to the prosecution case recorded in the August 11 order of the HC, Subudhi is accused of stealing confidential information belonging to Torrent Pharmaceuticals and of allegedly demanding Rs 6 crore from the company on the “pretext of disclosing” its confidential details, data, and information “to a third party”.Advocate Mitesh Amin, assisted by a team of advocates, appeared for Torrent Pharmaceuticals in the August bail plea proceedings. As per the prosecution’s case, the applicant is accused of theft of critical data, and he ceased to be an employee of the company following the registration of the FIR.Story continues below this adTorrent Pharma, the flagship company of the Ahmedabad-based Torrent Group, was conceived as a small generic company in the early 1970s by the late U N Mehta. It is today one of India’s leading pharma companies with a turnover of Rs 13,980 crore in FY2026, and has marketing presence in more than 50 countries around the world, according to its website.Torrent Pharma manufactures medicinal drugs for a range of cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, and dermatological conditions. Among its widely prescribed products are the anxiety medication Alprax, gastro medicines NexPRO and Unienzyme, anti-bacterial formulation Ampoxin, hypertension medication Calcigard and Telday, and the calcium-vitamin dietary supplement Shelcal.Also Read | Torrent to buy 46.39 pc stake in JB Chemicals for Rs 11,917 croreArguments in court on bail pleaCounsel for Subudhi maintained in the HC that he was innocent and had been falsely implicated. In support of his bail plea, Subudhi furnished an affidavit undertaking that he would not directly or indirectly use, access, exploit, disseminate, publish, transmit, share, copy, reproduce, transfer, sell or otherwise deal with confidential information belonging to Torrent Pharmaceuticals, its subsidiaries, holding companies, group companies or affiliates. The court took the undertaking on record.The state and counsel appearing for the complainant had opposed the original bail plea, submitting that Subudhi was involved in the offence and that, “considering its gravity”, his application should be rejected.Story continues below this adBail order and restrictions on SubudhiThe High Court, however, noted that a substantial part of the investigation was over, Subudhi had been in custody since July 12, and there was nothing left to be recovered or discovered from him.The court also noted that Subudhi had no past criminal antecedents, the prosecution had failed to point out circumstances warranting continued or prolonged incarceration, and the trial would take time to commence and conclude.So, on August 11, the court ordered Subudhi’s release on regular bail on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the same amount. But he was restricted from leaving Gujarat, and he was directed to surrender his passport.He was also directed to mark his presence at the police station concerned once every month for six months, and to furnish his Aadhaar, email ID, and residential details to the investigating officer and the court.Story continues below this adThe bail order also included a specific condition barring the accused executive from dealing with Torrent’s confidential information. Any breach of the undertaking would be treated as a violation of the High Court’s order and could entail contempt proceedings, Subudhi was told.Also Read | Semaglutide generics launch pushes sales of GLP-1 drugs by 75% in 1 monthWhy court lifted the restrictionOn September 16, Subudhi’s lawyer told the HC that his wife was suffering from various ailments and that his son had recently met with an accident. Since there was no one at Subudhi’s home to look after them, he sought permission to leave Gujarat.The state opposed the plea, but the High Court accepted the circumstances and observed that, “…the applicant’s son met with an accident while his wife suffers from various ailments leaving no one at home to care for them, the presence of the applicant to attend to his family is necessary.”The court observed that Subudhi’s presence was needed to look after his family, and therefore partly allowed his application and suspended the condition for one month.