Allahabad High Court
Imran Mulla vs State Of U.P. on 30 October, 2025
Author: Rohit Ranjan Agarwal
Bench: Rohit Ranjan Agarwal
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:191111
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 17326 of 2025
Imran Mulla
.....Applicant(s)
Versus
State of U.P.
.....Opposite Party(s)
Counsel for Applicant(s)
:
Satya Narayan Gupta, Yogendra Pal Singh
Counsel for Opposite Party(s)
:
G.A.
Court No. - 36
HON'BLE ROHIT RANJAN AGARWAL, J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned A.G.A. for the State.
2. This is the second bail application of the applicant. By means of the present bail application, the applicant seeks bail in Case Crime No. 31 of 2024, under Section 2/3 of U.P. Gangster & Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act (hereinafter called as "Gangster Act"), Police Station- Partapur, District- Meerut, during the pendency of trial.
3. The first bail application of the applicant being Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 28829 of 2024 was dismissed on 27.02.2025 and following order was passed:-
"1. Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned A.G.A. for the State-respondent.
2. By means of this application, applicant Imran Mulla, who is involved in Case Crime No. 31 of 2024, under Section 2/3 of U.P. Gangster & Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act (hereinafter called as ??Gangster Act?), Police Station Partapur, District Meerut, seeks enlargement on bail during the pendency of trial.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that two cases have been shown in the gang-chart, in which applicant has already been enlarged on bail. He further contended that there are nine more criminal cases registered against the applicant in which the applicant has also been enlarged on bail. It is further contended that the applicant is in jail since 03.05.2024 and if he is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail.
4. Learned A.G.A. vehemently opposed the prayer of bail by submitting that this is the second time that the Gangster Act has been imposed upon the applicant. Earlier Gangster Act was also imposed upon the applicant in the year 2015 in which the applicant was released on bail on 16.05.2017. He submits that thereafter the applicant has been charged under the U.P. Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act as well as offences under Sections 379, 380, 392 IPC. He further submits that no compliance of Section 19(4)(b) of Gangster Act has been done so as to bring before the Court that the applicant would not commit any further crime.
5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material on record.
6. Before adverting to decide the bail application, a cursory glance of provision of Section 19(4)(b) of Gangster Act is necessary for better appreciation of the case, which reads as under;
"Section 19(4)(b):
Where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail."
6. From reading of Section 19 (4) (b), it is clear that before proceeding to grant bail in the Gangster Act, which is a special legislation, and Sub-section (4) of Section 19, which is a non-obstante clause, clearly provides that the Court before granting the bail to record the reasons that applicant would not commit any crime in future.
7. The criminal history of the applicant as given in para 2 of the supplementary affidavit is as under;
"(i). Case Crime No. 136 of 2023 under section 3/8 of Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, P.S.- Partappur, District- Meerut.
(ii) Case Crime No. 144 of 2023 under section 307/34 IPC and 3/25 Arms Act, P.S.- Partapur, District-- Meerut.
(iii) Case Crime No. 585 of 2018 under section 120-B, 347, 392, 411, 506 IPC, P.S.- Partappur, District- Meerut.
(iv) Case Crime No. 137 of 2017 under section 25 Arms Act, P.S.- Bhawanpur, District- Meerut.
(v) Case Crime No. 337 of 2015 under section 2/3 U.P. Gangster & Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, P.S.- Bhawanpur, District Meerut.
(vi) Case Crime No. 562 of 2016 under section 380, 457 IPC, P.S.- Bhawanpur, District- Meerut.
(vii) Case Crime No. 165 of 2013 under section 379, 411, IPC and 3/5/8 of Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, P.S.- Parikshitgarh, District- Meerut.
(viii) Case Crime No. 171 of 2013 under sections 379, 504, 506 IPC, P.S.- Parikshitgarh, District- Meerut.
(ix). Case Crime No. 367 of 2013 under section 3/8 of Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act and 11 Animal Cruelty Act, P.S.- Bhawanpur, District- Meerut.
(x). Case Crime No. 294 of 2017 under section 457, 380, 504, 506 IPC and 3/11 U.P. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, P.S.- Bhawanpur, District- Meerut.
(xi). Case Crime No. 167 of 2015 under section 3/8 of Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, P.S.- Bhawanpur, District- Meerut."
8. The Supreme Court in Sudha Singh vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another (2021) 4 SCC 781 in paras 8 to 11 has held as under :
"8. This Court in Neeru Yadav v. State of U.P. (2014) 16 SCC 508 held that when a stand was taken that the accused was a history-sheeter, it was imperative for the High Courts to scrutinise every aspect and not capriciously record that the accused was entitled to be released on bail on the ground of parity.
9. In Ash Mohammad v. Shiv Raj Singh (2012) 9 SCC 446, this Court observed that when citizens were scared to lead a peaceful life and heinous offences were obstructions in the establishment of a well-ordered society, the courts play an even more important role, and the burden is heavy. It emphasised on the need to have a proper analysis of the criminal antecedents of the accused.
10. In Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee, (2010) 14 SCC 496, it was held that this Court ordinarily would not interfere with a High Court's order granting or rejecting bail to an accused. Nonetheless, it was equally imperative for the High Court to exercise its discretion judiciously, cautiously and strictly in compliance with the ratio set by a catena of decisions of this Court. The factors laid down in the judgment were:
(i) Whether there was a prima facie or reasonable ground to believe that the accused had committed the offence;
(ii) nature and gravity of accusations;
(iii) severity of the punishment in the event of a conviction;
(iv) danger of the accused absconding or fleeing, if granted bail;
(v) character, behaviour, means, position and standing of the accused;
(vi)likelihood of repetition of the offence;
(vii) reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being influenced; and
(viii) danger of justice being thwarted by grant of bail.
11. There is no doubt that liberty is important, even that of a person charged with crime but it is important for the courts to recognise the potential threat to the life and liberty of victims/witnesses, if such accused is released on bail."
9. Looking into the exposition of law as also the criminal history of the applicant, which contains 11 cases under different sections as also the fact that earlier Gangsters Act was imposed upon the applicant and if the applicant is enlarged on bail, he would be a threat to the society at large, this Court cannot record its satisfaction in terms of Section 19(4)(b) of Gangster Act. No case for bail is made out.
10. Bail application is accordingly rejected. "
4. Today, learned counsel for the applicant submits that applicant is having criminal history of 11 cases and one of the co-accused has been granted bail by co-ordinate Bench of this Court who is having criminal history of 33 cases. He further submits that most of criminal cases registered against the applicant are before the year 2017. It is further contended that applicant is languishing in jail since 03.05.2024 and if he is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty.
5. Learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the bail application and submitted that this is not first time that Gangster Act has been imposed upon the applicant, earlier in the year 2015, Case Crime No. 337 of 2015 was registered against the applicant under Section 2/3 of Gangster Act.
6. I have heard respective learned counsel for the parties and perused the material on record.7. The question with regard to fresh argument to be considered in second bail application on those very facts that were available to the accused while his earlier bail application was moved and rejected, came for consideration before Division Bench of this Court in case of Satya Pal vs. State of U.P., 1998 (37) ACC 287. Division Bench relying upon the decision of Apex Court in case of State of Maharastra vs. Buddhikota Subha Rao, AIR 1989 SC 2292 held as under:-
"4. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the cases which were cited before the learned single Judge as also before us. We think that the point is well settled by the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Buddhikota Subha Rao, AIR 1989 SC 2292. In the aforesaid judgment of the Supreme Court while disapproving grant of bail by a learned single Judge of the High Court just after two days when a number of bail applications had been dismissed by another learned single Judge of that Court the Supreme Court also considered various other aspects relating to the question as to under what circumstances an application for bail should be considered even a previous application for bail had been rejected. It will be proper to. quote relevant passages from paragraphs 6 and 7 of the said judgment :-
6. ...The question then is whether there was justification for releasing the respondent on bail to facilitate yogic exercises under expert guidance at his residence, albeit under conditions of surveillance, even though Puranik, J. had rejected a more or less similar prayer only two days before? Should this Court refuse to exercise jurisdiction under Article 136 of the Constitution even if it is satisfied that the jurisdiction was wrongly exercised.
7. Liberty occupies a place on pride in our socio-political order. And who knew the value of liberty more than the founding fathers of our Constitution whose liberty was curtailed time and again under Draconian Laws by the colonial rulers. That is why they provided in Article 21 of the Constitution that no person shall be deprived of his personal liberty except according the procedure established by law. It follows therefore that the personal liberty of an individual can be curbed by procedure established by law. The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, is one such procedural law. The law permits curtailment of liberty of antisocial and anti-national elements. Article 22 casts certain obligations on the authorities in the event of arrest of an individual accused of the commission of a crime against society or the Nation. In cases of under-trial charged with the commission of an offence or offences the Court is generally called upon to decide whether to release him on bail or to commit him to jail. This decision has to be made, mainly in non-bailable cases, having regard to the nature, of the crime, the circumstances in which it was committed, the background of the, accused, the possibility of his jumping bail, the impact that his release may make on the prosecution witnesses, its impact on society and the possibility of retribution, etc. In the present case the successive bail applications preferred by the respondent were rejected on merits having regard to the gravity of the offence alleged to have been committed. Once such application No. 36 of 1989 was rejected by Suresh, J. himself. Undeterred the respondent went on preferring successive applications for bail. All such pending bail applications were rejected by Puranik, J. by a common order on 6th June, 1989. Unfortunately Puranik, J. was not aware of the pendency of yet another bail application No. 995/ 89 otherwise he would have disposed it of by the very same common order. Before the ink was dry on Puranik J.'s order, it was upturned by the impugned order. It is not as if the Court passing the impugned order was not aware of the decision of Puranik, J. in fact there is a reference to the same in the impugned order. Could this be done in the absence of new facts and changed circumstances ? What is important to realise is that in Criminal Application No. 375 of 1989, the respondent had made an identical request as is obvious from one of the prayers (extracted earlier) made therein. Once that application was rejected there was no question of granting a similar prayer. That is virtually overruling the earlier decision without there being a change, in the fact situation. And, when we speak of change, we mean a substantial one which has a direct impact on the earlier decision and not merely cosmetic changes, which are of little or no consequence. Between the two orders there was a gap of only two days and it is nobody's case that during these two days drastic changes had taken place necessitating the release of the respondent on bail. Judicial discipline, propriety and comity demanded that the impugned order should not have been passed reversing all earlier orders including the one rendered by Puranik, J, only a couple of days before, in the absence of any substantial change in the fact-situation. In such cases it is necessary to act with restraint and circumspection so that the process of the& Court is not abused by a litigant and an impression does not gain ground that the litigant has either successfully avoided one judge or selected another to secure an order, which had hitherto eluded him. In such a situation the proper course, we think, is to direct that; the matter! be placed before the same learned Judge who disposed of the earlier applications. Such a practice or convention would prevent abuse of the process of Court inasmuch as it will prevent an impression being created that a litigant is avoiding or selecting a Court to secure an order to his liking. Such a practice would also discourage the filing of successive bail applications without change of circumstances. Such a practice if adopted would be conducive to judicial discipline and would also save the Court's time as a judge familiar with the facts would be able to dispose of the subsequent application with despatch. It will also result in consistency. In this view that we take we are fortified by the observations of this Court in paragraph 5 of the judgment in Shahzad Hasan Khan v. Ishtiaq Hasan Khan (1987) 2 SCC 684. For the above reasons we are of the view that there was no justification for passing the impugned order in the absence of a substantial change in the fact-situation. That is what prompted Shetty, J. to describe the impugned order as 'a bit out of the ordinary.' Judicial restraint demands that we say no more.
5. A reading of the above mentioned passage from the judgment of the Supreme court makes it clear that there is no bar in successive bail applications being moved for consideration by the Courts. However the Supreme Court clearly ob-served that the practice suggested would also discourage filing of successive bail applications without change of circumstances. This observation makes it clear that it should be only when some new facts and circumstances have developed after rejection of the previous bail application then only the second bail application should be considered on merit. The learned single Judge who referred this case to be considered by the Division Bench had made the following observations in his referring order;-
In my view this direction of the Supreme Court is intended at maintaining some degree of finality even to interim orders and not keeping it open to frequent change unless substantial changes in fact-situation are indicated. Otherwise our Courts including' superior Courts would tie flooded with frivolous repeated prayers for bail as new arguments and new twists on same facts would always be advanced by legal experts. It is therefore, necessary that a decision should be given by a higher Bench on the question if at all it would be open for a Court to allow fresh arguments on the same facts after a former prayer was although specifically the points urged in the subsequent applications were not considered.
We are in complete agreement with the views expressed by the learned single Judge and agree that a second bail application cannot be entertained on the same facts after a formal prayer was rejected although subsequently points urged in the subsequent bail applications were not considered.
6. Learned counsel for the applicant strenuously wanted to support the view taken by the learned single Judge in the case of Gama v. State of U.P., 1986 ( 23 ) ACC 339. We are not inclined to accept the view taken by the learned single Judge in the said case. It is not uncommon but rather almost an accepted norm that the High Courts while rejecting the bail application do not give reasons for such rejection. Reasons are generally not given as observations tend to influence and affect the trial in pending cases. Therefore, the following observations of the learned single Judge in the case of Gama v. State of U.P.(supra) does not lay down the correct law.
Even though it may be second or third bail application, but unless it is apparent from a reading of the first bail order that the point urged in the subsequent bail applications was also considered and rejected, it cannot be said that the point urged in the second or third bail application would be deemed to have been considered in the first bail application just by implication.
We accordingly overrule this view taken by the learned single Judge in Gama's case (supra)."
8. In the second bail application moved by the applicant, no new ground for consideration has been taken, apart from the fact that the applicant is in jail since 03.05.2024 and one of the co-accused has been enlarged on bail who has criminal history of 33 cases. The counsel has only placed reliance on the earlier argument made when the first bail application was considered.
9. Looking to the fact that applicant has long criminal history which is ranging from 2013 to 2023 and twice Gangster Act has been imposed upon the applicant, no satisfaction can be recorded under Section 19(4)(b) of Gangster Act. No case for releasing the applicant on bail is made out. If the applicant is enlarged on bail, he would be a threat to the society at large. Further, no new ground has been raised in the second bail application and Division Bench had already in case of Satya Pal (supra) had taken view that unless and until new ground exists, the second bail application cannot be considered.
10. In view of above, the second bail application stands rejected.
(Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.)
October 30, 2025
V.S.Singh
