Allahabad High Court
Pawan @ Kadwa vs State Of U.P. And Another on 23 December, 2022
Bench: Sanjay Kumar Pachori
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 65
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 3905 of 2022
Appellant :- Pawan @ Kadwa
Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another
Counsel for Appellant :- Praveen Kumar Singh,Suved Kumar Sharma
Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.
Heard Shri Praveen Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the appellant and Shri Virendra Kumar Maurya, learned A.G.A. for the State. Despite the service of notice upon respondent no. 2, no one has appeared on his behalf.
The present criminal appeal under Section 14-A(2) Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been filed by the appellant Pawan @ Kadwa to set aside the impugned order dated 09.05.2022 whereby the Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Bareilly has rejected the bail application No. 1528 of 2022 of the appellant moved by him in Case Crime No. 64 of 2022, under Sections 307, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3(1)(da), 3(1)(dha), 3(2)(v), 3(2)(va) of SC/ST Act, Police Station Qilla, District Bareilly.
Brief facts of the case are that the first information report dated 19.3.2022 was lodged by brother of the injured stating therein that on 17.3.2022 at about 9.30 p.m. when the brother of the first informant was going towards Qilla Chhavni, near Rathor Dharamshala the appellant and other two named co-accused persons met him and abused him by using caste derogatory words. When he made objection, they assaulted by sharp edged weapons in the abdomen, waist and hip of the brother of the first informant. After that on dialing 112 number, police reached the spot and admitted him in the hospital and during the treatment his brother told the whole incident to the first informant.
Before lodging the first information report, medical examination of the injured was conducted on 17.3.2022 at 11.00 p.m. As per medical report of the injured Amit, three incised wound were found on right side of abdomen, mid of hip and right side of back of chest. After recording the statements of the injured persons and other prosecution witnesses, charge sheet had been submitted against the appellant and two other named co-accused persons. The appellant was arrested on 03.04.2022.
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 general allegation of assault has been levelled against the appellant and other named co-accused persons. No specific role or involvement has been attributed to the present appellant. It is further submitted that the incident took place in the night at 9.30 p.m.
It has also been submitted that co-accused, Sagar having similar role, has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 15.12.2022 in Criminal Appeal No. 3563 of 2022, and the applicant is also entitled to be enlarged on bail on the ground of parity. It is further submitted that the appellant is languishing in jail since 03.04.2022. 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. has supported the order passed by the Special Judge and vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant. 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) General allegation of assault has been levelled against the appellant and other named co-accused persons.
(b) No specific role or involvement has been attributed to the present appellant.
(c) Co-accused, Sagar having similar role, has already been enlarged on bail by this Court.
(d) The appellant is languishing in jail since 03.04.2022.
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 09.05.2022 is set aside.
Let appellant/applicant, Pawan @ Kadwa 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 :- 23.12.2022
Ishan
