Allahabad High Court
Atul Singh vs State Of U.P. And 3 Others on 23 November, 2022
Bench: Manish Mathur
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 71
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 32806 of 2022
Applicant :- Atul Singh
Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others
Counsel for Applicant :- Mata Achal Mishra,Vinay Mishra
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Manish Mathur,J.
1. As per report of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mirzapur, the informant has already been served notice on 03.09.2022 but no-one has put in appearance on her behalf.
1A. Heard learned counsel for applicant, learned Additional Government Advocate appearing on behalf of State and perused the record.
2. This first bail application has been filed with regard to Case Crime No.0168 of 2021 under Sections 323,363, 366A, 376D, 504, 506, 120B I.P.C. and Section 3/4 & 11/12 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, P.S.Vindhyachal, District Mirzapur.
3. As per contents of first information report, the main accused Devendra Singh @ Deependra @ Deepu Singh and his wife Shweta Singh are said to have forcibly molested minor daughter of informant and obscene videography of the incident was also done with which the alleged victim was being blackmailed. It is also stated that subsequently the victim was compelled to elope with the applicant who is a relative of the main accused.
4. Learned counsel for applicant submits that applicant has been falsely implicated in the charges levelled against him and the entire gist of allegations is on the main accused Devendra Singh @ Deependra @ Deepu Singh. It is submitted that applicant has been nominated in the F.I.R. only on account of fact that he is related to co-accused persons. It is submitted that medical examination does not support the allegations levelled in the F.I.R. It is also submitted that in the absence of medical evidence, no conviction of applicant is possible under Section 376 I.P.C. It is also submitted that the main accused Devendra Singh @ Deependra @ Deepu Singh as well as Shweta Singh have been admitted to bail by coordinate Benches of this Court in Bail Applications numbered 18952 of 2022 and 2550 of 2022 respectively.
5. Learned Additional Government Advocate appearing on behalf of State has opposed the bail application with submission that the prosecutrix is clearly minor of about 16 years on the date of occurrence of the incident and has supported the prosecution version in her statements recorded under Sections 161 and 164 Cr.P.C.
6. Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Sanjay Chandra v. Central Bureau of Investigation, reported in (2012) 1 SCC 40 has specifically held that bail is to be a norm and an under-trial is not required to be in jail for ever pending trial. Relevant paragraphs of the judgment are as under :-
"21. In bail applications, generally, it has been laid down from the earliest times that the object of bail is to secure the appearance of the accused person at his trial by reasonable amount of bail. The object of bail is neither punitive nor preventative. Deprivation of liberty must be considered a punishment, unless it is required to ensure that an accused person will stand his trial when called upon. The courts owe more than verbal respect to the principle that punishment begins after conviction, and that every man is deemed to be innocent until duly tried and duly found guilty."
"27. This Court, time and again, has stated that bail is the rule and committal to jail an exception. It has also observed that refusal of bail is a restriction on the personal liberty of the individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution."
7. Considering the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties and upon perusal of the material on record, prima facie, and subject to further evidence being led in trial, it appears that the main gist of allegations have been levelled against co-accused Devendra Singh @ Deependra @ Deepu Singh and his wife Shweta Singh. The role of applicant has been indicated subsequently as having eloped with the prosecutrix and outraging her modesty subsequently. The medical report however does not appear to support the allegations levelled and as per radiological report, the age of prosecutrix is 18 years. As such, without expressing any opinion on the merits of case, this Court finds, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail in this case.
8. Accordingly bail application is allowed.
9. Let applicant Atul Singh, involved in the aforesaid case crime be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions which are being imposed in the interest of justice:-
(i) 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 court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.
(ii) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel. In case of his absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against him under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iii) In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure his presence proclamation under Section 82 Cr.P.C. is issued and the applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against him, in accordance with law, under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iv) 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 Cr.P.C. If in the opinion of the trial court, 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 against him in accordance with law.
Order Date :- 23.11.2022
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