Himachal Pradesh High Court
Sandeep Singh vs State Of H.P on 2 August, 2021
Bench: Anoop Chitkara
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
Cr.MP(M) No. 1486 of 2021
Date of Decision: 2.8.2021
.
Sandeep Singh ...Petitioner.
Versus
State of H.P. ...Respondent.
Coram:
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Anoop Chitkara, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting?1 No
For the petitioner: Mr. Abhishek Negi, Advocate.
For the respondent: Mr. Nand Lal Thakur, Addl. Advocate General with Mr.
Ram Lal Thakur, Assistant Advocate General.
THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCE
FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections
198/2019 30.8.2019 Shimla(West), District Shimla 20 and 29 of NDPS
Act.
Anoop Chitkara, Judge (Oral)
An under-trial prisoner, facing trial for possessing 1 kg 218 gram Charas has
come up before this Court under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973 (CrPC), seeking bail, because the brother-in-law (elder sister's husband) was
died on 21.7.2021 on account of electric shock and he wants to perform ritual rites at
Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab.
2. In Para 6 of the bail application, the petitioner declares having no criminal
history.
3. Mr. Nand Lal Thakur, learned Additional Advocate General submits that in
case this Court grants interim bail to the petitioner then the Court must specify the
date on which the petitioner would surrender.
Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
4. That the ground for granting interim bail are mentioned in para 5 of the bail
petition, which is extracted as follows:
"That the petitioner brother-in-law (elder sister's husband) was died
.
on 21.7.2021 due to electric shock and it is the wish of his sister,
mother and his family to join and perform the rituals on 13 th day of his
brother-in-law at Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab."
5. Given the facts and circumstances mentioned above, and without commenting
on the case's merits, the petitioner makes a case for release on bail up to 20.8.2021
subject to production of identity proof i.e. Aadhar Card/Ration Card.
6. In Manish Lal Shrivastava v State of Himachal Pradesh, CrMPM No. 1734
of 2020, after analysing judicial precedents, this Court observed that any Court
granting bail with sureties should give a choice to the accused to either furnish surety
bonds or give a fixed deposit, with a further option to switch over to another.
7. The petitioner shall be released on bail in the FIR mentioned above, subject to
his furnishing a personal bond of Rs. Ten thousand (INR 10,000/-), and shall
furnish one surety of Rs. Twenty-five thousand (INR 25,000/-), to the satisfaction
of the Judicial Magistrate having the jurisdiction over the Police Station conducting
the investigation, and in case of non-availability, any Ilaqa Magistrate. Before
accepting the surety, the concerned Magistrate must satisfy that in case the accused
fails to appear in Court, then such surety is capable to produce the accused before the
Court, keeping in mind the Jurisprudence behind the surety, which is to secure the
presence of the accused.
8. In the alternative, the petitioner may furnish a personal bond of Rs. Ten
thousand (INR 10,000/-), and fixed deposit(s) for Rs. Ten thousand only (INR
10,000/-), made in favour of Chief Judicial Magistrate of the concerned district.
a) Such Fixed deposits may be made from any of the banks where the stake
of the State is more than 50%, or any of the stable private banks, e.g., HDFC
Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, etc., with the clause of automatic
renewal of principal, and liberty of the interest reverting to the linked account.
b) Such a fixed deposit need not necessarily be made from the account of
the petitioner and need not be a single fixed deposit.
c) If such a fixed deposit is made in physical form, i.e., on paper, then the
original receipt shall be handed over to the concerned Court.
d) If made online, then its printout, attested by any Advocate, and if
possible, countersigned by the accused, shall be filed, and the depositor shall
get the online liquidation disabled.
.
e) The petitioner or his Advocate shall inform at the earliest to the
concerned branch of the bank, that it has been tendered as surety. Such
information be sent either by e-mail or by post/courier, about the fixed deposit,
whether made on paper or in any other mode, along with its number as well as
FIR number.
f) After that, the petitioner shall hand over such proof along with
endorsement to the concerned Court.
g) It shall be total discretion of the petitioner to choose between surety
bonds and fixed deposits.
h) Subject to the proceedings under S. 446 CrPC, if any, the entire amount
of fixed deposit along with interest credited, if any, shall be endorsed/returned
to the depositor(s). Such Court shall have a lien over the deposits.
9. The attesting officer shall, on the reverse page of personal bonds, mention the
permanent address of the petitioner along with the phone number(s), WhatsApp
number (if any), e-mail (if any), and details of personal bank account(s) (if
available).
10. The petitioner shall not influence, browbeat, pressurize, make any inducement,
threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to the witnesses, the Police officials, or any
other person acquainted with the facts of the case, to dissuade them from disclosing
such facts to the Police, or the Court, or to tamper with the evidence.
11. This Court is imposing this condition to rule out any attempt by the accused to
incapacitate, influence, or to cause any discomfort to the victim. Reference be made
to Vikram Singh v Central Bureau of Investigation, 2018 All SCR (Crl.) 458); and
Aparna Bhatt v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2021 SCC Online SC 230.
12. The petitioner shall surrender in prison from where he was released, on or
before 20.8.2021, by 4 p.m.
13. Any Advocate for the petitioner and the Officer in whose presence the
petitioner puts signatures on personal bonds shall explain all conditions of this bail
order, in vernacular and if not feasible, in Hindi.
14. There would be no need for a certified copy of this order for furnishing bonds.
Any Advocate for the petitioner can download this order along with the case status
from the official web page of this Court and attest it to be a true copy. In case the
attesting officer or the Court wants to verify the authenticity, such an officer can also
verify its authenticity and may download and use the downloaded copy for attesting
.
bonds.
In the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, the petition is allowed in
the terms mentioned above.
Copy Dasti.
Anoop Chitkara,
Judge
2nd August, 2021
(Guleria) r
