HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
BENCH AT JAIPUR
S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous Bail Application No. 1369/2021
Rajesh Kushwaha S/o Shri Ramshakal Kushwaha, Aged About 54
Years, R/o Dakshin Tola Khukhundu Ps Khukhundu Tehseel
Salempur Dist. Devriya Utterpradesh Present R/o Tenant House
Owner Shri Amer Sing Jat Government Secondary School House
No. 344 Abheypur Ps Abheypur Sector No. 19 Phase -I Panchkula
Haryana (Accused Petittioner Is In J.c. In Central Jail Ajmer)
----Petitioner
Versus
State Of Rajasthan, Through Pp
----Respondent
For Petitioner(s) : Mr.Manish Gupta
For Respondent(s) : Mr.Arvind Kumar Choudhary
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE FARJAND ALI
Judgment / Order
08/11/2021
The instant bail bail application under Section 439 Cr.P.C has been preferred on behalf of the petitioner, who is in judicial custody in connection with FIR No.381/2016, P.S. Nasirabad Sadar, Ajmer for the offence under Sections 8/15 of Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985.
Looking to the huge quantity of allegedly recovered contraband, I am not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner, accordingly the same is dismissed.
It would be worthwhile to mention here that this court vide order dated 25.3.2021 and 27.4.2021 sought report from the trial court as to why the statements of witnesses are not being (Downloaded on 15/11/2021 at 09:13:00 PM) (2 of 4) [CRLMB-1369/2021] recorded. In compliance thereof, the court below has sent report dated 24.4.2021 showing the reason of protraction of trial.
A perusal of the report sent by the trial court reflects that till March 2020, matter came to be adjourned for one and other unconvincing reasons. The next reason of delay in trial has been assigned to be the surge of Pandemic COVID-19. It is reported that the matter was posted for evidence of prosecution on 19.1.2021 but the witness did not turn up and the matter got adjourned upto 23.3.2021. On that date, Examination-in-chief of PW-1 Netram got recorded but the cross-examination was deferred at the request of counsel appearing on behalf of accused. It is further reported by the trial court that trial court holds a camp at Nasirabad for only six days in a month and in total 2025 cases are pending in both the courts.
Be that as it may, the fact remains that the charge-sheet in this matter came to be submitted in the year 2016 and the petitioner is languishing in jail since then and till day even the evidence of a single witness has not been completed.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor appearing for the State. Perused the material available on record.
A perusal of the record of the case reveals that the matter is pending before the trial court since long, and more than 5-6 years have elapsed but the trial could not have been completed. As per the list of the witnesses attached with the charge-sheet, 24 (Downloaded on 15/11/2021 at 09:13:00 PM) (3 of 4) [CRLMB-1369/2021] witnesses have been projected by the prosecution, out of which, only one witness could have been examined. Most of the witnesses are public servants being the police officials, surprisingly no effective steps have been taken to conclude the trial. Thus it is a case of infringement of fundamental right as guaranteed by the Constitution of India as every accused has a fundamental right of speedy trial.
It is not clear from the material available on record that who is responsible for the delay occurred during the course of trial; whether the witnesses are not being summoned properly by the learned trial court, or though the same are being issued to the witnesses but they are not appearing before the court for their cross-examination in trial. Yet, the things have remained undisputed that the petitioner is facing pending trial incarceration since last more than six years. The responsibility to ensure that the witnesses remain attended when they are summoned, is that of the prosecution.
This court has repeatedly issued directions to the Director General of Police to ensure that the official witnesses more particularly of the police department should remain present when they are summoned to depose before the trial court. Reference in this regard may be made to the order dated 1.12.2015 passed by the Principal Seat at Jodhpur in SBCr.Misc.Bail Appl. No. 9568/2015 (Ganesh Ram Vs.State of Raj.). However, it seems that these directions are being rampantly flouted regularly. From the facts noted above, it is apparent that prosecution has failed to fulfill the obligation caste upon as to secure the attendance of the (Downloaded on 15/11/2021 at 09:13:00 PM) (4 of 4) [CRLMB-1369/2021] witnesses for deposing before the trial court, but because of the lackadaisical approach of the prosecution, the accused petitioner continued to languish in jail for more than six years. Here only one projected witness could have been examined till date thus the conclusion of the trial may take further long time.
In this background, and having regard to the entirety of the facts & circumstances of the cases, this court directs the trial court to expedite the trial, and try to get it disposed as early as possible. At the same time, directions are issued to the Director General of Police, Jaipur to look into the matter and pass an appropriate instructions to the Nodal Officer as appointed by him in accordance with the directions passed by this court in Ganesh Ram's case (supra) to ensure the attendance of the police officials before the trial court as and when they are summoned to adduce evidence before the trial court.
Let a copy of this order be directly sent to the concerned trial Court as well as the Director General of Police, Jaipur for compliance as aforesaid.
With these observations, the instant bail application is disposed of.
(FARJAND ALI),J SANDEEP RAWAT /23/08 (Downloaded on 15/11/2021 at 09:13:00 PM) Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)