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Orissa High Court
Babuna @ Dipuna @ Tapan vs State Of Odisha on 8 April, 2026
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
CRLA No.1277 of 2023
Babuna @ Dipuna @ Tapan .... Appellant/
Kumar Nath Petitioner
Represented by Adv.-
Mr. Sapan Kumar Lenka, Advocate
-versus-
State of Odisha .... Respondent/
Opp. Party
Represented by Adv.-
Mr. Jateswar Naik, AGA
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANASH RANJAN PATHAK
AND
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SIBO SANKAR MISHRA
ORDER
Order No. 08.04.2026
(Hybrid mode)
05. 1. Pursuant to the orders dated 01.12.2025 and
08.12.2025, the Superintendent, Model Convict Prison,
Athgarh has placed on record the certificate of imprisonment
dated 06.12.2025 and conduct of the sole appellant Babuna
@ Dipuna @ Tapan Kumar Nath. The report reveals that the
appellant has already undergone custody of 10 years 11
months and 20 days as on 06.12.2025. The jail conduct of
the appellant is also satisfactory and the appellant has no
criminal antecedents. The reports are taken on record.
2. The appellant is seeking suspension of sentence
during pendency of the appeal. The present appeal is
pending since 2023. The appeal has been filed against the
judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated
27.06.2023 passed by the learned Adhoc Additional District
and Sessions Judge, FTSC (POCSO), Jagatsinghpur in Special
G.R. Case No. 6-2015, convicting the appellant for
commission of offence punishable under sections 302/201 of
IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment
for life and to pay a fine of Rs.30,000/- (rupees thirty
thousand), in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a
period six months for the offence under section 302 of IPC
and further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for
a period of two years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- (rupees
five thousand), in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment
for a period of one month for the offence under section 201
of IPC.
3. Heard learned counsel for the appellant and learned
counsel for the State-Respondent.
4. Learned counsel for the appellant while pressing for
bail has taken us to the evidence adduced by the
prosecution and submitted that in the present case there is
no direct evidence available on record against the appellant.
The appellant has been solely convicted on the strength of
certain circumstances cited against him. Although the
evidence led by the prosecution to establish that the
deceased was lastly seen with the appellant suffers from lot
of contradictions, but the learned trial court has relied upon
the testimony of P.Ws. 11, 13 and 14. The appeal has been
pending since 2023 and there is no scope that the appeal
being heard in the near future. The appellant has already
suffered incarceration for near about 11 years.
5. To counter the aforementioned submission, Mr. Naik,
learned Addl. Government Advocate submitted that apart
from the last seen evidence brought on record by the
prosecution through the evidence of P.Ws.11, 13 and 14,
there are other circumstances proved on record against the
appellant. P.Ws.4 and 10 have deposed regarding extra
judicial confession made by the appellant before them.
According to Mr. Naik, there are clinching evidences
available on record to establish the circumstance, which has
been apparently relied upon by the learned trial court while
convicting the appellant.
6. We have taken into consideration the submission
made by both the counsels at the Bar and perused the
evidences available on record. At this stage, we do not want
to delve upon the merits of the case, however taking into
consideration the period of custody and the conduct of the
appellant in the jail besides the fact that the appeal is not
likely to be heard in the near future and keeping in view the
principles laid down by this Court in Leti @ Jayadeb Roy
and another Vrs. The State reported in (1990) 3 Orissa
Criminal Reports 427, we are inclined to release the
convict-appellant on interim bail for a period of three months
from the date of his actual release. The appellant shall
surrender before the learned trial court on expiry of three
months period.
For the above period, let the convict-appellant be
released on interim bail in the aforesaid case on furnishing
bail bond of Rs.50,000/-(rupees fifty thousand) with one
local solvent surety for the like amount to the satisfaction of
the learned trial Court subject to condition that while on
interim bail the appellant-petitioner shall not indulge in any
criminal activities in any manner and any other condition to
be imposed by the learned trial court as deem fit and proper
in the facts and circumstances of the case..
Violation of any of the conditions shall entail
cancellation of interim bail.
The I.A. is disposed of accordingly.
7. Issue urgent certified copy of this order as per rules.
(Manash Ranjan Pathak)
Judge
(Sibo Sankar Mishra)
Judge
06. 1. List this matter after three months.
2. Learned counsel for the appellant shall file the Surrender
Certificate of the appellant on the next date.
(Manash Ranjan Pathak)
Judge
Ashok (Sibo Sankar Mishra)
Judge
Signed by: ASHOK KUMAR JAGADEB MOHAPATRA
Location: High Court of Orissa
Date: 09-Apr-2026 15:22:27
