The Patna High Court, while disposing of a petition filed against the order rejecting the provisional bail granted by this Court in favor of the petitioner and directing him to surrender before the Court of the learned Magistrate, held that anticipatory bail cannot be granted directing the parties to lead conjugal life, meaning thereby settlement of the offense under Section 498A of the I.P.C.
Brief Facts:
On the basis of a Police report, a case under Section 498A/341/323/504/34 of the I.P.C. read with Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act was registered against the petitioner. The petitioner prayed for anticipatory bail before this Court. A Coordinate Bench disposed of the said application for anticipatory bail vide order dated 4th September 2017. By passing the impugned order on 2nd May 2019, the learned S.D.J.M. rejected the said provisional bail granted by this Court in favor of the petitioner and he was directed to surrender before the Court of the learned Magistrate. Moreover, the petitioner’s application under Section 239 of the Cr.P.C. was rejected by the learned Magistrate in the same order dated 2nd May 2019.
Observations of the Court:
The Court noted that the pre-condition of granting provisional bail seemed to be an attempt at reconciliation of the dispute and mediation of a charge under Section 498A of the I.P.C. and other penal provisions.
The Court observed that in a criminal case, at an interlocutory, stage the parties cannot be directed to stay together, where there was an allegation of mental and physical cruelty. The conditions for provisional bail were not satisfactory. No such condition can be imposed, as a condition for anticipatory bail directing the accused to restore peaceful conjugal life with the defacto complainant.
The Court said that when an anticipatory bail is granted by the higher Court, it is obligatory for the trial court to grant bail to the accused, on his surrender. Anticipatory bail cannot be granted directing the parties to lead conjugal life, meaning thereby settlement of the offense under Section 498A of the I.P.C. The High Court can not grant an anticipatory bail on the ground that the husband will take his wife and keep her with him for six months and after six months, if the wife does not have any complaints against the husband, the order of bail will be confirmed
The decision of the Court:
The Patna High Court, disposing of the petition, held that the petitioner is directed to surrender before the trial court, and on his surrender, he will be released on bail under Section 437 of the Cr.P.C.
Case Title: Sanjay Kumar v The State of Bihar & Anr.
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Bibek Chaudhuri
Case no.: CRIMINAL REVISION No.710 of 2019
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. Manoj Kumar
Advocate for the Respondents: Mr. Ram Sumiran Rai
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