Allahabad High Court
Amrendra Singh @ Ashu vs State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Sery. ... on 8 May, 2023
Bench: Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH
?Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC-LKO:31951
Court No. - 15
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 1731 of 2022
Appellant :- Amrendra Singh @ Ashu
Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Sery. Home, Lko. And Another
Counsel for Appellant :- Mohammad Zeeshan Lari,Siddhartha Sinha
Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Ashutosh Singh Chauhan,Ranjit Kumar
Hon'ble Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I,J.
1. Heard Sri Siddhartha Sinha, learned counsel for the appellant, Sri Anurag Verma, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the entire record.
2. No one has appeared on behalf of the opposite party no.2 to argue this case even when the list was revised, despite the fact that the names of Sri Ashutosh Singh and Sri Ranjit Kumar have been shown as counsels for opposite party no.2.
3. This Criminal Appeal filed under section 14-A (2) Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, has been preferred against the impugned order dated 29.06.2022 passed by the learned Special Judge, S.C./ S.T. Act, Lucknow in Bail Application No.3693 of 2022, arising out of Case Crime/F.I.R. No.184 of 2022, under Sections 493, 313, 376, 504, 506 I.P.C. & Sections 3(2)(5), 3(1)(da), 3(1)(dha) SC/ST Act, registered at Police Station- Madiyaon, District- Lucknow, whereby the bail application of the appellant has been rejected.
4. Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that an F.I.R. has been lodged against the sole appellant by the victim due to some ulterior motive. The accused/appellant is innocent and he has been falsely implicated in this case.
5. His further submission is that in the F.I.R. it is stated that rape upon victim was committed by the present appellant, however, the victim in her statement recorded under section 161 & 164 Cr.P.C. has admitted the fact she was acquainted with the appellant and she had a consensual physical relationship with the present appellant. Learned counsel for the appellant has further submitted that that having regard to her unequivocal statement to the aforesaid effect, no offence under section 376 I.P.C. is made out against the present appellant. He has also submitted that initially the F.I.R. came to be lodged under sections 493, 313, 504, 506 I.P.C. & Sections 3(2)(V) and 3(1)(da)(dha) SC/ST Act, however, the charge sheet came to be lodged against the appellant under section 493, 376, 504,, 506 I.P.C. & Sections 3(2)(V), 3(1)(da), 3(1)(dha) SC/ST Act.
6. His further submission is that the present appellant is languishing in jail since 05.05.2022 and in case, the appellant is enlarged on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail and he shall fully cooperate with the trial. He has further submitted that there is no possibility of the appellant to intimidate or pressurize the witnesses or any other persons acquainted with the facts of the present case.
7. For the aforesaid reasons, learned counsel for the appellant submits that the instant criminal appeal deserves to be allowed. The impugned order dated 29.06.2022 passed by the learned Special Judge, S.C./ S.T. Act, Lucknow in Bail Application No.3693 of 2022, arising out of Case Crime/F.I.R. No.184 of 2022, under Sections 493, 313, 376, 504, 506 I.P.C. & Sections 3(2)(5), 3(1)(Da)(Dha) SC/ST Act, registered at Police Station- Madiyaon, District- Lucknow, deserves to be set aside and consequently, the accused/appellant deserves to be enlarged on bail during pendency of the trial.
8. Per contra, learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the prayer by submitting that the accused/appellant is named in the F.I.R. and he is stated to have committed rape upon the victim and therefore, he is not entitled to be enlarged on bail, however, he has been unable to dispute the other factual submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the appellant.
9. Having heard the learned counsel for the appellant, learned A.G.A. for the State and upon perusal of record, it transpires that initially the F.I.R. came to be lodged under sections 493, 313, 504, 506 I.P.C. & Sections 3(2)(V), 3(1)(da), 3(1)(dha) SC/ST Act, however, the charge sheet came to be lodged against the appellant under section 493, 376, 504,, 506 I.P.C. & Sections 3(2)(V), 3(1)(da), 3(1)(dha) SC/ST Act. It appears that the victim in her statement recorded under section 161 & 164 Cr.P.C. has herself stated that she knew the present appellant for more than one year and she had a consensual physical relationship with the present appellant. The victim is major. The accused/appellant is languishing in jail since 05.05.2022 who has no previous criminal history.
10. Considering the aforesaid overall facts and circumstance of the case and without expressing any opinion on merits, this Court is of the considered view that the learned court below has failed to appreciate the material available on record. The order passed by the court below in the aforesaid case crime number is liable to be set aside and is accordingly set aside.
11. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. Consequently, the impugned judgment and order dated the impugned order dated 29.06.2022 passed by the learned Special Judge, S.C./ S.T. Act, Lucknow in Bail Application No.3693 of 2022, arising out of Case Crime/F.I.R. No.184 of 2022, under Sections 493, 313, 376, 504, 506 I.P.C. & Sections 3(2)(5), 3(1)(Da), 3(1)(Dha) SC/ST Act, registered at Police Station- Madiyaon, District- Lucknow, is set aside.
12. Let the appellant- Amrendra Singh @ Ashu be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number with the following conditions:-
(i) The appellant shall furnish a personal bond with two sureties each of like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned.
(ii) The appellant shall appear and strictly comply following terms of bond executed under section 437 sub section 3 of Chapter- 33 of Cr.P.C.:-
(a) The appellant shall attend in accordance with the conditions of the bond executed under this Chapter.
(b) The appellant shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which he is accused, or suspected, of the commission of which he is suspected, and
(c) The appellant 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.
(iii) The appellant shall cooperate with investigation /trial.
(iv) The appellant 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.
(v) The appellant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel. In case of his absence, the trial court may proceed against him under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(vi) In case, the appellant misuses the liberty of bail during trial, in order to secure his presence, proclamation under section 82 Cr.P.C. is issued and the appellant 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.
(vii) The appellant shall remain present, 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 appellant 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.
(Ajai Kumar Srivastava-I, J.)
Order Date :- 8.5.2023
Manoj K.
