Nanda @ Nand Lal vs State Of U.P. And Another
2022 Latest Caselaw 15162 ALL

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
 
 

?Court No. - 65
 

 
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 5173 of 2022
 

 
Appellant :- Nanda @ Nand Lal
 
Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another
 
Counsel for Appellant :- Yadvendra Yadav,Dheeraj Kumar Dwivedi
 
Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Mahendra Kumar Sharma
 

 
Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.

Heard Shri Dheeraj Kumar Dwivedi, learned counsel for the appellant, Shri Om Prakash Dwivedi, learned A.G.A. for the State and Shri Mahendra Kumar Sharma, learned counsel for the opposite party No. 2.

The present criminal appeal under Section 14-A(2) Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been filed by the appellant to set aside the impugned order dated 7.7.2022, whereby the Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Mirzapur has rejected the bail application No. 852 of 2022 of the appellant moved by them in Case Crime No. 46 of 2022, under Sections 147, 323, 504, 506, 304, IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of SC/ST Act, Police Station Padari, District Mirzapur.

Brief facts of the case are that the first information report dated 24.2.2022 has been lodged against the appellant and four other named persons stating that on 23.2.2022 at about 5.00 p.m. the appellant and other co-accused persons pelted stone to dispossess the first informant from the house. The mother of the first informant Malti Devi objected at the same time, then the accused persons abused and committed marpeet with the mother Malti Devi, wife Suggi Devi and daughter Savita of the first informant and fled away from the place of incident. Mother, wife and daughter of the first informant sustained grievous injuries and during the treatment his mother has died.

After lodging the first information report, inquest of the body of the deceased Malti Devi was conducted on 24.2.2022 at 14.00 hours in the mortuary of District Hospital Mirzapur. Postmortem of the body of the deceased was also conducted on 24.2.2022 at 4.05 p.m. As per postmortem report, no external injury was found on the person of the deceased. After recording the statements of the other prosecution witnesses, charge sheet has been submitted against the appellant and four other named co-accused persons on 9.4.2022. The appellant was arrested on 25.2.2022.

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 postmortem report, no external injury was found on the person of the deceased Malti Devi. Cause of death could not be ascertained and viscera was preserved. It is further submitted that other injured persons Suggi and Kavita received abrasion injuries on cheek, lip and joints, which are simple in nature. It is further submitted that general allegation of pelting stone has been assigned to the appellant. No specific role or involvement has been attributed to the present appellant. It is further submitted that the appellant is languishing in jail since 25.2.2022. 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 opposite party No. 2 have supported the order passed by the Sessions court and vehemently opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the applicant. But they could not point out any material to the contrary. They further submit 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) As per postmortem report, no external injury was found on the person of the deceased;

(b) General allegation of pelting stone has been assigned to the appellant;

(c) No specific role or involvement has been assigned to the appellant;

(d) The appellant is languishing in jail since 25.2.2022.

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 7.7.2022 is set aside.

Let appellant/applicant, Nanda @ Nand Lal 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 applicants are 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 applicants, 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 :- 31.10.2022

T. Sinha