Lalit Kumar vs State Of U.P. And Another
2022 Latest Caselaw 22428 ALL

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
 
 

?Court No. - 65
 

 
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 5165 of 2022
 

 
Appellant :- Lalit Kumar
 
Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another
 
Counsel for Appellant :- C.L. Chaudhary,Achyuta Nand Pandey,Anand Prakash Pandey
 
Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Ajai Kumar Singh
 

 
Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.

Heard Shri Anand Prakash Pandey, learned counsel for the appellant, Sri Ajai Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the respondent no. 2 and Shri Ravindra Kumar Singh, learned A.G.A. for the State.

The present criminal appeal under Section 14-A(2) Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been filed by the appellant Lalit Kumar to set aside the impugned order dated 29.06.2022 whereby the Special Judge (SC/ST Act)/ Additional Sessions Judge, Aligarh has rejected the bail application No. 3433 of 2022 of the appellant moved by him in Case Crime No. 458 of 2022, under Sections 376, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3(2)(v) of SC/ST Act, Police Station- Bannadevi, District- Aligarh.

Brief facts of the case are that the first information report dated 13.06.2022 was lodged by the father of the victim stating therein that the appellant solemnized marriage with his daughter, aged about 19 years forcibly in Arya Samaz Temple, when the first informant called the appellant, he did not tell about it. The appellant is a married person, his daughter told to her mother that the appellant committed rape with her after threatening with dire consequences. The first informant brought the appellant to the police station.

After lodging the first information report, statement of the victim under Section 161 Cr.P.C. was recorded on 13.06.2022. Medical examination was also conducted on 13.06.2022. Statement of the victim under Section 164 Cr.P.C. was recorded on 04.07.2022. After recording the statements of the other prosecution witnesses, charge sheet had been submitted against the appellant. The appellant was arrested on 13.06.2022.

Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the appellant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive. It is further submitted that as per statement of the victim under Section 161 and 164 of Cr.P.C., wherein she stated that she known to the appellant about one year. It is further submitted that there are material contradiction between the statement of the victim recorded under Sections 161 and 164 of Cr.P.C. As per statement, she stated that one day appellant called the victim in the birthday party of his brother and committed rape. In the statement of the victim recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C., appellant called the victim to his house 4-5 months ago (date is not known to her). It is further submitted that on 15.04.2022, when the victim was alone, the appellant came to her house and then took photographs of himself and her with garlands around her neck and obtained her signatures on some papers. It is further submitted that victim is a consenting party and the appellant was 26 years old and the victim was 21 years old at the time of incident.

It is further submitted that the appellant is languishing in jail since 13.06.2022. The appellant has no criminal history.

It is further submitted that there is no possibility of the appellant of fleeing away after being released on bail or tampering with the witnesses. In case the appellant is enlarged on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail.

Per contra, learned A.G.A. as well as learned counsel for the respondent no. 2 have supported the order passed by the Special Judge and vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant. Learned counsel for the respondent no. 2 pointed out that there is a medical evidence and as per medical report one injury of abrasion was present on right side of neck. 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 appellant was 26 years old and the victim was 21 years old at the time of incident;

(b) There are material contradiction between the statement of the victim recorded under Sections 161 and 164 of Cr.P.C., it would not be appropriate to discuss the same at this stage;

(c) The appellant is languishing in jail since 13.06.2022;

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 criminal appeal is allowed and impugned order dated 29.06.2022 is set aside.

Let appellant/applicant, Lalit Kumar 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/endeavour 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 :- 22.12.2022

Ishan