Allahabad High Court
Mahendra Pal Sharma @ Mahendra ... vs State Of U.P. Thru. Secy. Deptt. ... on 19 October, 2023
Bench: Rajeev Singh
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH
?Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC-LKO:69068
Court No. - 12
Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 10292 of 2023
Applicant :- Mahendra Pal Sharma @ Mahendra Sharma @ Guddu
Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Secy. Deptt. Civil Sectt. Lko
Counsel for Applicant :- Vinay Kumar
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Rajeev Singh,J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned A.G.A. for the State and also perused the record.
2. This application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed by the applicant to direct the trial court to allow the applicant to submit only a personal bond and 26 sureties in lieu of 13 cases.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that the applicant has been falsely implicated in 13 cases, details of which are as under:
(i) Case Crime No.750 of 2020, under Sections 411, 413, 419, 420 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(ii) Case Crime No.759 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411, 413 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(iii)Case Crime No.795 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411, 413 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(iv)Case Crime No.839 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411, 413, 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(v)Case Crime No.865 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411, 413 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(vi)Case Crime No.876 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411, 413 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(vii)Case Crime No.894 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411, 413 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(viii)Case Crime No.895 of 2015, under Sections 41, 411, 413, 419, 420 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(ix)Case Crime No.835 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411, 413 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(x)Case Crime No.1423 of 2017, under Section 8/20 of N.D.P.S. Act, Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(xi)Case Crime No.1189 of 2015, under Section 2/3 of U.P. Gangster Act, Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(xii)Case Crime No.86 of 2015, under Sections 380, 411, 457, 419, 420 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
(xiii)Case Crime No.613 of 2015, under Sections 379, 411 I.P.C., Police Station- Kotwali Sadar, District- Lakhimpur Kheri.
4. It has been submitted that the applicant has been granted bail by the trial court as well as by this Court in all the aforesaid cases, but furnishing of 26 sureties in 13 different cases is almost impracticable as the applicant is very poor person and he will not be able to arrange 26 sureties to get bail.
5. Learned counsel for the applicant has also relied the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Hani Nishad @ Mohammad Imran @ Vikky Vs. The State of Uttar Praesh [SLP (Crl.) No.8914-8915/2018].
6. Learned A.G.A., however, opposes the prayer of the learned counsel for the applicant and submits that it is always the discretion and satisfaction of the trial court, so far as the acceptance of the sureties is concerned.
7. Having heard learned counsel for the rival parties, it appears that the only grievance of the applicant appears to be that, despite having obtained the order of the bail in all the cases, he is not able to come out of the prison for the reason that he is unable to find separate sureties for each case and, thus, a prayer has been made that, applicant be permitted to file same sureties in all the 13 cases and a suitable direction in this regard be given to the trial court.
8. The acceptance of the sureties and their verification is the prerogative of the trial court and the same, in any case, could not be controlled by this Court. Sufficient guidelines in this regard have already been given by the High Court on administrative side to the subordinate courts. However, as far as the grievance of the applicant, pertaining to the fact that he is not in a position to arrange separate sureties for 13 cases, is concerned, the answer to this apprehension and grievance is implicit in Section 441-A of Code of Criminal Procedure, which is reproduced as under:-
"Declaration by sureties- Every person standing surety to an accused person for his release on bail, shall make a declaration before the Court as to the number of persons to whom he has stood surety including the accused, giving therein all the relevant particulars."
9. Perusal of this Section shows that, a person, who is intending to be the surety of any accused person, is obliged to declare before the Court that apart from the person, to whom he is standing surety, for how many other accused persons, he has stood surety. Therefore, the texture of the Section 441-A of the Cr.P.C., which has been introduced by way of amendment made in the year 2006 clearly reflects that a person may stand surety for more than one accused person and in more than one case. So there appears no bar for a person to stand surety in more than one case and also for more than one accused person.
10. However, as stated earlier, the status, verification and the competency of the surety will always be assessed by the trial court before acceptance.
11. Thus, it is directed that, if same sureties are placed before the trial court and they are otherwise competent and their status and other particulars have been duly verified, the trial court, in its discretion, may accept the same in all the cases mentioned hereinbefore.
12. With the aforesaid observations, the application is finally disposed of.
Order Date :- 19.10.2023
Arpan
