Pramod vs State Of U.P.
2022 Latest Caselaw 1188 ALL

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
 
 

?Court No. - 72
 

 
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 8549 of 2022
 

 
Applicant :- Pramod
 
Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
 
Counsel for Applicant :- Jitendra Kumar Shishodia,Gyan Chandra
 
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Rajesh Kumar Singh
 

 
Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.

Heard Sri Jitendra Kumar Shishodia, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Rajesh Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the first informant and learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record.

The present bail application has been filed on behalf of applicant Pramod under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 443 of 2018 for offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, registered at Police Station- Thana Bhawan, District- Shamli, during pendency of the trial, after rejecting the bail application of the applicant by In-charge Sessions Judge, Shamli vide order dated 01.01.2022.

Brief facts of the present case are that the first information report dated 10.12.2018 has been lodged against the applicant and two named persons and one unknown person by the son of the deceased stating therein that on 09.12.2018 at 08:30 P.M. the father of the first informant after taking evening meal went at his mud house to sleep. Thereafter, in the night brother of the deceased Lal Singh came at his house and told that his tractor trolley carrying sugarcane get stuck in the field then first informant along-with Shyam Singh and Praveen went to his mud house and after hearing the noise of the tractor trolley applicant and two other co-accused persons Pradeep and Manoj having danti, spade, palkati and in their hands run away, who were identified in an electric light and there was also an unknown person. After that he reached in the mud house and seen that his father's dead body was lying on the ground in pool of blood. The applicant and other co-accused persons committed murder of his father due to old enmity.

Before lodging of the first information report one Lokendra informed the Police on 10.12.2018 at 13:35 hours with regard to murder of Jabar Singh. The inquest proceedings was started on 10.12.2018 at 16:00 hours and completed at 17:50 hours; postmortem was conducted on 11.12.2018 at 12:15 P.M. As per postmortem report, one lacerated wound on the top of the head 8 cm x 2 cm, one incised wound 26 cm x 9 cm on the left side of face and neck and one abrasion 4 cm x 2 cm on knee joint injuries were found on the person of the deceased. The first statement of the first informant Sandeep Singh has been recorded on 10.12.2018; statement of other witnesses Shyam Singh and Praveen have been recorded on 22.12.2018; second, third and fourth statement of the first informant has been recorded on 25.09.2019; 09.02.2021 and 13.10.2021 respectively. After recording the statement of the prosecution witnesses under Section 161 Cr.P.C. and after completion of the investigation, charge-sheet has been submitted on 31.12.2021 against the applicant, Pradeep, Manoj, and Balraj. The applicant was arrested on 17.12.2021.

Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive. It is further submitted that the information with regard to dead body of the deceased Jabar Singh has been given by the one Lokendra on 10.12.2018 at 13:35 hours and the first information report has been lodged after about 16 hours of the incident and the cause of delay in lodging the F.I.R. has not been explained by the first informant. It is further submitted that as per second, third and fourth statement unknown persons have been identified by the first informant and stated that unknown person/Balraj was sleeping with his father at the time of the incident and prior to enmity in matrimonial case Balraj committed murder along with applicant and other accused persons on the basis of criminal conspiracy. It is further submitted that except the statement of the first informant Sandeep Kumar, Shyam Singh and Praveen there is no other evidence. It is further submitted that the named witness of the F.I.R. Praveen is the witness of inquest. It is further submitted no incriminating articles has been recovered from the possession or pointing out of the applicant. It is further submitted that co-accused Balraj has been arrested on 31.12.2021. It is next submitted that there is material contradiction/ improvement between the first, second, third and fourth statement of the first informant.

It has also been submitted that co-accused Pradeep having similar role, has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide orders dated 05.04.2022 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 6156 of 2022. He has next argued that the applicant has no previous criminal history and if the applicant is released on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail.

Per contra, learned A.G.A. as well as learned counsel for the first informant has supported the order passed by the Sessions court and vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant and submits that the police has arrested the present applicant after filing of writ petition before this court and further submits that allegations involved are very serious in nature and the delay in lodging the F.I.R. cannot be said to be fatal to the case at this juncture while considering the application of bail. But he could not point out any material to the contrary. He further submits that in case the applicant is released on bail, he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail.

After considering the facts of the present case it prima facie appears that;

(a) The incident took place on 09/10.12.2018 at 02:00 A.M. one Lokendra informed the police first time about the dead body of the deceased Jabar Singh on 10.12.2018 at 13:35 hours and first information report has been lodged by the first informant Sandeep Kumar on 10.12.2018 at 17:59 hours;

(b) The statements of the first informant has been recorded on 10.12.2018; 25.09.2019; 09.02.2021 and 13.10.2021 respectively;

(c) As per the third statement of the first informant co-accused Balraj was sleeping with his father at the time of incident;

(d) There is material contradiction/ improvement between the first, second, third and fourth statement of the first informant, it would not be appropriate to discuss the same at this stage;

(e) Co-accused Pradeep has already been granted bail by this Court;

It is a settled law that while granting bail, the court has to keep in mind the nature of accusation, the nature of the evidence in support thereof, the severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused, the circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, his role and involvement in the offence, his involvement in other cases and reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with.

Taking into account the totality of facts and keeping in mind, the ratio of the Apex Court's judgment in the case of State of Rajasthan v. Balchand @ Baliay (1977) 4 SCC 308, Gudikanti Narasimhulu And Ors., v. Public Prosecutor, High Court Of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1978 SC 429, Ram Govind Upadhyay v. Sudarshan Singh & Ors., (2002) 3 SCC 598, Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee & Anr., (2010) 14 SCC 496 and Mahipal v. Rajesh Kumar & Anr., (2020) 2 SCC 118, the larger interest of the public/State and other circumstances, but without expressing any opinion on the merits, I am of the view that it is a fit case for grant of bail. Hence, the present bail application is allowed.

Let applicant, Pramod be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on his furnishing a personal bond and two reliable sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to the following conditions:

(i) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat, or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.

(ii) The applicant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witnesses.

(iii) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 313 of Cr.P.C.

(iv) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in the trial court.

(v) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel.

(vi) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail.

In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail. If in the opinion of the trial court that absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed in accordance with law.

The trial court may make all possible efforts/endeavor and try to conclude the trial expeditiously in accordance with law after the release of the applicant, if there is no other legal impediment.

It is made clear that the observations made in this order are limited to the purpose of determination of this bail application and will in no way be construed as an expression on the merits of the case. The trial court shall be absolutely free to arrive at its independent conclusions on the basis of evidence led unaffected by anything said in this order.

The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad, self attested by the applicant along-with a self attested identity proof of the said person (preferably Aadhar Card) mentioning the mobile number to which the said Aadhar Card is linked.

The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.

Order Date :- 12.4.2022

Ishan