The Punjab and Haryana High Court granted bail to the petitioner, accused of having links with agents of Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan, who were allegedly targeting people for ransom in Punjab for creating communal tension and stated that the veracity of the prosecution case against the petitioner shall be adjudicated upon during the course of trial and further incarceration of the petitioner was not required.
Brief Facts:
The petitioner was booked under Sections 384, 153, 153-A, 120-B, 212, 216 IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act, 1959 and Sections 3, 4, 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 in 2022 and was alleged to have indulged in illegal activities in connivance with the agents of the ISI-Pakistan and had supplied a heavy quantity of arms and ammunition to their accomplices in India and was targeting the people for ransom with an intention to create communal tensions in Punjab, they along with the agents of the ISI were likely to target the leaders of religious associations and political parties thereby disturbing the peace in the society.
Contentions of the Applicant:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner contended that there is no offence whatsoever that has been committed other than under the Arms Act the FIR was based on suspicion and there was no complaint, complainant or witness to the purported assassination attempt or extortion. It was further contended that none of the prosecution witnesses had been examined so far and some of the co-accused had been released on bail under Section 167(2) Cr.P.C., the petitioner was entitled to the same concession.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent contended that the petitioner was a part of a large gang indulging in anti-national activities and thus, the nature of the allegations levelled against him did not entitle him to the grant of bail.
Observations of the Court:
The court stated that the veracity of the prosecution case against the petitioner shall be adjudicated upon during the course of trial and the petitioner was in custody since 28.07.2022 and none of the 14 prosecution witnesses have been examined so far and thus the trial of the present case is not likely to be concluded anytime soon.
Further, the court stated that some of the co-accused had been granted bail and in view of that further incarceration of the petitioner was not required.
The decision of the Court:
The court granted bail to the accused subject to certain conditions.
Case Title: Sumit Kumar vs. State of Punjab
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi
Case No.: CRM-M-42141-2023 (O & M)
Advocate for the Applicant: Mr. Vikas Soonak
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. Kirat Singh Sidhu
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