Allahabad High Court
Pancham Singh vs State Of U.P. on 9 February, 2021
Bench: Saurabh Shyam Shamshery
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 83
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 11675 of 2018
Applicant :- Pancham Singh
Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Yogesh Kumar Srivastava,Noor Muhammad
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Saurabh Shyam Shamshery,J.
1. Heard Sri Noor Mohammad, learned counsel for applicant and learned A.G.A. for State.
2. Applicant-Pancham Singh has approached this Court by way of filing the present Criminal Misc. Bail Application under Section 439 Cr.P.C. after rejection of his Bail Application vide order dated 18.09.2017 passed by Sessions Judge, Firozabad in Case Crime No. 214 of 2016, under Section 302 IPC, Police Station Linepar, District Firozabad.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that applicant is in jail since 21.02.2017. He was admitted in Government Hospital at Gwalior from 09.09.2016 to 15.09.2016, whereas alleged occurrence took place on 11.09.2016. It is a case of false implication. Presence of Informant at the house of applicant was highly improbable. There is no eye witness account. Applicant has disclosed his criminal history of six cases. Learned counsel for applicant also relied on a judgment passed by coordinate Bench of this Court in Ahtesham Ahmad Zaidi vs. State of U.P., 2020(1) JIC 542 and submits that bail cannot be rejected merely on the basis of criminal history of accused. He further submitted that out of three named accused, bail has been granted to two accused.
4. Per contra, learned A.G.A. appearing for State, has opposed the bail and submits that applicant alongwith others took deceased to his house where in the presence of Informant they shot dead deceased. Applicant has criminal history of 10 cases but he has disclosed only six cases. No case of bail is made out.
5. Law on bail is well settled that 'Bail is rule and jail is exception'. Bail should not be granted or rejected in a mechanical manner as it concerns the liberty of a person. At the time of considering an application for bail, the Court must take into account certain factors such as the existence of a prima facie case against the accused, the gravity of the allegations, position and status of the accused, the likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice and repeating the offence, the possibility of tampering with the witnesses and obstructing the Courts as well as the criminal antecedents of the accused. It is also well settled that the Court while considering an application for bail must not go into deep into merits of the matter such as question of credibility and reliability of prosecution witnesses which can only be tested during the trial. Even ground of parity is one of the above mentioned aspects which are essentially required to be considered while considering application for bail. It is also well settled that grant or refusal of bail is entirely within the discretion of the Judge hearing the matter and though that discretion is unfettered, it must be exercised judiciously and in a humane manner, compassionately and not in whimsical manner. Conditions for the grant of bail ought not to be so strict as to be incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail illusory.
4. In the present case, the allegations against the applicant are very serious in nature. He alongwith co-accused enticed deceased to come alongwith them to his house, where in the night they shot dead deceased in presence of Informant and dead body was found at applicant's house. Plea of alibi is prima facie based on a fabricated document. Applicant has not come before this Court with clean hands. Admittedly applicant has criminal history of 10 cases, however in the application only six cases are disclosed, which includes cases under Sections 302, 307, 323 IPC, Arms Act and Gangster Act. As mentioned earlier, criminal antecedents of the accused is one of the factor which must be taken into account while considering bail application. In the present case, not only prima facie case exists against the applicant but the applicant has long criminal history involving heinous crimes and he has not disclosed his past antecedents fairly. The case of applicant is distinguishable on above grounds from the case of co-accused, therefore, no case for bail is made out.
5. Bail application is rejected.
Order Date :- 9.2.2021
AK
