Pradeep Singh vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh
2021 Latest Caselaw 2773 MP

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          THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
                        CRA-3629-2021
             Pradeep Singh Vs. State of MP and anr.

                    Through Video Conferencing

Gwalior, Dated : 28-06-2021

      Shri Sanjay Gupta, Counsel for the appellant.

      Shri C.P. Singh, Counsel for State/respondent No. 1.

None for the respondent No. 2/complainant.

It is submitted by the counsel for the State that the complainant

has been informed about the pendency of this appeal as required

under Section 15-A of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

(Prevention of Atrocities) Act (in short "Act").

Case diary is available.

This second criminal appeal under Section 14-A of the Act has

been filed for grant of bail. First criminal appeal was dismissed on

merits by order dated 18.01.2021 passed in Cr.A. No.198/2021.

The appellant has been arrested on 31.05.2020 in connection

with Crime No.108/2020 registered by Police Station Bahadurpur

Distt. Ashoknagar for offence punishable under Sections 307, 294,

147, 148, 149, 436, 302 of IPC and Sections 3(2)(v), 3(2)(iv), 3(1)(n)

and 3(1)(/k) of the Act.

It is submitted by the counsel for the appellant that it is true

that the appellant was identified in the Test Identification Parade, but

there are no specific allegations against the appellant. Even if it is

THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH CRA-3629-2021 Pradeep Singh Vs. State of MP and anr.

found that the appellant was present at the place of incident, still it

cannot be said that he was the member of unlawful assembly or he

was sharing common object. He is in jail for the last more than one

year and the Trial is likely to take sufficiently long time. It is further

submitted that so far as the criminal history of the appellant is

concerned, in almost all the cases, he has been acquitted.

Per contra, the application is vehemently opposed by the

counsel for the State. It is submitted that so far as the acquittal of the

appellant in other cases is concerned, it is apparent from the

judgments filed by the appellant that in almost all the cases, the

witnesses had turned hostile either in toto or on the question of

identity. It is further submitted that according to the prosecution case,

the complainant was cutting a branch of a Babool tree and he was

challenged by the co-accused Balram Yadav. When the complainant

told Balram that he would continue to cut the branch of tree because

the tree belongs to him, then the co-accused Balram Yadav called his

son Girraj Yadav. Girraj Yadav along with the appellant and other co-

accused persons came on the spot. Girraj Yadav assaulted on the head

of father of the complainant, who was sitting in his house. After

assaulting the witnesses, huts belonging to the complainant were also

set on fire. The bail applications of all the co-accused persons, who

were either named in the FIR or who have been identified by the

THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH CRA-3629-2021 Pradeep Singh Vs. State of MP and anr.

witnesses, have been rejected.

Considering the fact that in all the criminal cases, the appellant

has been acquitted because the witnesses did not support the

prosecution case, coupled with the fact that the appellant was duly

identified by the witnesses in the Test Identification Parade

conducted by the police, no case is made out for grant of bail.

The application fails and is hereby dismissed.

(G.S. Ahluwalia) Judge Abhi ABHISHEK CHATURVEDI 2021.06.29 10:09:28 +05'30'