Allahabad High Court
Krishna Bhagwan vs Union Of India on 16 May, 2022
Bench: Chandra Kumar Rai
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 75
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 1860 of 2022
Applicant :- Krishna Bhagwan
Opposite Party :- Union of India
Counsel for Applicant :- Saroj Kumar Dubey
Counsel for Opposite Party :- Ashish Pandey
Hon'ble Chandra Kumar Rai,J.
Heard Sri Saroj Kumar Dubey, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Ashish Pandey, learned counsel for the Opposite Party No.1 (N.C.B.) and perused the record.
The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant- Krishna Bhagwan with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No.02 of 2020 (subsequently registered as Case Crime No.96 of 2020) Challani Police Station N.C.B., Lucknow, under Sections 8/20/29 of N.D.P.S. Act, Police Station- Bara, District- Prayagraj during pendency of trial.
It is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that the alleged incident has said to be taken place on 22.1.2020 and complaint of the case has been filed by N.C.B. on 17.7.2020 against two accused, namely, Ajai Saroj and Shiv Prasad Mishra in trafficking of Ganja concealing in his truck bearing no. U.P.-70 F.T.-5039. After obtaining acceptance report, notice under Section- 50 of N.D.P.S. Act was given to accused- Ajai Saroj regarding search of vehicle and physical search. Accordingly, 452 K.G. Ganja was recovered and seized, so Ajai Saroj was arrested. He further submitted that in the statement under Section 67 of N.D.P.S. Act, Ajai Saroj told that owner of truck is Shiv Prasad Mishra. Accordingly, Shiv Prasad Mishra appeared before N.C.B., whose statement under Section 67 of N.D.P.S. Act was recorded, in which name of applicant was introduced stating that applicant is involved in selling the Ganja. Accordingly, applicant was arrested from his house and subsequently, shown in his possession about 26 K.G. Ganja, so F.I.R. has been lodged as Case Crime No.361 of 2020, under Section 8/20 of N.D.P.S. Act, in which applicant has been released by Session Judge. He next submitted that no case is made out against the applicant under Section 8/20/29 of N.D.P.S. Act as the name of applicant for the first time came in the confessional statement of co-accused- Shiv Prasad Mishra during police custody, which is hit by Section 25 of Indian Evidence Act. He also submitted that recovery of contraband has not been made from the possession of the applicant. He further submitted that N.C.B. department obtained C.D.R. of mobile belonging to other co-accused but did not connect any confession or call of applicant. On the point of Section 67 of N.D.P.S. Act, learned counsel for the applicant has placed reliance upon the decision of Apex Court in Toofan Singh Vs. State of Tamil Nadu reported in 2021 (114) ACC 365, Sanjeev Chandra Agrawal and Another Vs. Union of India passed in Special Leave Petition (Criminal) Diary No.(s)- 24622 of 2017, dated 25.10.2021, Bharat Chaudhary Vs. Union of India reported in 2021 O Supreme Court (SC) 811 and State by (NCB) Bengaluru Vs. Pallulabid Ahmad Arimuttu and Another reported in 2022 (1) Crimes (SC) 240.
On the point of criminal history of the applicant, learned counsel for the applicant placed reliance upon the judgment passed in the case of Prabhakar Tiwari Vs. State of U.P. and Others reported in 2020 (113) ACC 326, in which it is held that bail cannot be refused on the ground of pendency of criminal case. He further submitted that there are no chances of applicant's fleeing away from the judicial process or tampering with the prosecution evidence, and is in jail since 21.09.2020.
Lastly it is submitted by the learned counsel for applicant that the applicant shall not abscond, and will fully cooperate in the criminal law proceedings. The applicant shall not tamper with the evidence nor influence the witnesses in any manner.
On the other hand, learned counsel for the N.C.B., Mr. Ashish Pandey opposed the prayer for grant of bail and submitted that applicant in collusion with the co-accused person procured the recovered Ganja for its trafficking, accordingly, he has conscious possession over recovered Ganja. It is further submitted that there are several other corroborative evidence apart from the confessional statements of co-accused and applicant, showing the complicity of the applicant. He further submitted that C.D.R. and tower location of the accused person also matched. Learned counsel for the N.C.B. placed reliance upon the judgment passed in the case of Baldev Singh @ Debu Vs. State of Punjab in SLP (Criminal) No. 1359 of 2021, dated 30.7.2021.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the fact that nothing has been recovered form the possession of the applicant and ratio of the judgment of Apex Court, I am of the view that the applicant has made out a case for bail. The bail application is allowed.
Let the applicant- Krishna Bhagwan involved in aforesaid case be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions;
1. The applicant will not tamper with the evidence during the trial.
2. The applicant will not influence any witness.
3. The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted.
4. 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 to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the court below shall be at liberty to cancel the bail.
Order Date :- 16.5.2022
Rameez
