Allahabad High Court
Rohit @ Mohit vs State Of U.P. on 13 November, 2024
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Neutral Citation No. - 2024:AHC:178526
Court No. - 66
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 40139 of 2024
Applicant :- Rohit @ Mohit
Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- M.P.S. Chauhan
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Sameer Jain,J.
1. Heard Sri M.P.S. Chauhan, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Santosh Nigam, learned AGA for the State-respondent.
2. The instant application has been filed seeking release of the applicant on bail in Case Crime No. 157 of 2014, under Sections 498-A, 304-B IPC & 3/4 D.P. Act, Police Station- Harduaganj, District- Aligarh, during pendency of the trial in the court below.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that this is the second bail application filed on behalf of the applicant and his first bail application was dismissed on 11.02.2015 by Hon'ble Anant Kumar, J. after considering the fact that applicant is the husband of the deceased and there is dying declaration of the deceased on record against the applicant but he is pressing the instant second bail application on the ground that applicant is in jail in the present matter since 30.06.2014 i.e. for last more than 10 years and till date, trial of the case could not be concluded and till date, out of 16 prosecution witnesses of the charge sheet only 6 witnesses could be examined, therefore, trial of the case is moving with languid pace and there is no hope of its early disposal.
4. He further submitted that right of speedy trial is the fundamental right of an accused and on its violation, even on serious allegations, he can be released on bail. He placed reliance upon the judgment of the Apex Court passed in cases of Union of India Vs. K.A. Najeeb (2021) 3 SCC 713 and Sheikh Javed Iqbal @ Ashfaq Ansari @ Javed Ansari [2024 SCC Online SC 1755].
5. He further submitted that applicant is not having any criminal history.
6. Per contra, learned AGA opposed the prayer for bail and submitted that this is the second bail application filed on behalf of applicant and he is the husband of the deceased and there is also dying declaration of the deceased on record and in the dying declaration, deceased made allegation against the applicant that he ablazed her but could not dispute the fact that in the present matter, applicant is in jail for last more than 10 years and till date out of 16 prosecution witnesses of the charge sheet only 6 witnesses could be examined.
7. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record of the case.
8. This is the second bail application filed on behalf of the applicant and his first bail application was dismissed on merit by Hon'ble Anant Kumar, J. vide order dated 11.02.2015 but as His Lordship has already demitted his office and this Court is dealing with such matters, therefore, instant matter is listed before this Bench.
9. From the record, it reflects that however, applicant is the husband of the deceased and there is also dying declaration of the deceased on record and as per deceased, applicant ablazed her but in the present matter, applicant is in jail since June, 2014 i.e. for last more than 10 years and till date, out of 16 prosecution witnesses of the charge sheet only 6 witnesses could be examined, therefore, it appears that trial of the case is moving with languid pace and there is no hope of its early disposal.
10. Further, considering the long incarceration of the applicant of more than a decade, it cannot be said that fundamental right of speedy trial of the applicant has not be violated.
11. Further, the Apex Court in cases of K.A. Najeeb (supra) and Sheikh Javed Iqbal (supra), on which reliance was placed by learned counsel for the applicant, categorically observed that if fundamental right of speedy trial of an accused is violated then he can be released on bail.
12. Further, applicant is not having any criminal history.
13. Therefore, considering the long incarceration of the applicant of more than 10 years, in my view, applicant is entitled to be released on bail.
14. Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the instant bail application is allowed.
15. Let the applicant- Rohit @ Mohit be released on bail in the aforesaid case on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:-
(i) The applicant shall appear before the trial court on the dates fixed, unless his personal presence is exempted.
(ii) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make 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 any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
(iii) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal and anti-social activity.
16. In case of breach of any of the above condition, the prosecution will be at liberty to move an application before this Court for cancellation of the bail of the applicant.
17. It is clarified that the observations made herein are limited to the facts brought in by the parties pertaining to the disposal of bail application and the said observations shall have no bearing on the merits of the case during trial.
Order Date :- 13.11.2024
KK Patel
