Arti Kumari vs The State Of Bihar
2021 Latest Caselaw 3729 Patna

      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No. 35586 of 2020
          Arising Out of PS. Case No.-589 Year-2016 Thana- MANER District- Patna
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Arti Kumari, aged about 22 years, Female Daughter of Sri Rajeshwar Rai, Resident of Village - Jivrakhan Tola, Goraiya Asthan, PS - Maner, District - Patna.

... ... Petitioner/s Versus The State of Bihar

... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Krishna Prasad Singh, Senior Advocate with Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh, Advocate For the State : Mr. Satya Nand Shukla, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH ORAL JUDGMENT Date : 27-07-2021

The matter has been heard via video conferencing.

2. Heard Mr. Krishna Prasad Singh, learned Senior

counsel assisted by Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh, learned counsel for

the petitioner and Mr. Satya Nand Shukla, learned Additional

Public Prosecutor (hereinafter referred to as the 'APP') for the

State.

3. The petitioner apprehends arrest in connection with

Maner PS Case No. 589 of 2016 dated 30.12.2016, instituted

under Sections 498A, 304B and 120/34 of the Indian Penal

Code.

4. The allegation against the petitioner, who is the

unmarried sister of the husband of the deceased, and her other Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.35586 of 2020 dt.27-07-2021

family members, is of killing the deceased and her three minor

children, by putting them on fire.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that

besides being the unmarried sister, the fact that three minor

children were also killed goes to show that there could not have

been any role of the family members as they may have had

differences with the sister of the informant, but there could not

have been any dispute or enmity with the minor children of her

brother. It was submitted that due to dispute between the

couple, the sister of the informant had committed suicide along

with her three children in a fit of rage. Learned counsel

submitted that the husband has also been enlarged on bail after

spending some time in custody. It was submitted that the father of

the petitioner, who was the father-in-law of the deceased,

Rajeshwar Rai, has been granted anticipatory bail by a co-ordinate

Bench of this Court by order dated 03.03.2020 in Cr. Misc. No.

9007 of 2020. It was submitted that the petitioner, besides being a

lady, has no criminal antecedent.

6. Learned APP, from the case diary, submitted that the

body of two children and the skeleton of the lady were fished out

from the river whereas the body of the third child has not been

recovered and the postmortem shows that death was due to Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.35586 of 2020 dt.27-07-2021

burning. It was further submitted that at the place of occurrence, a

bed has been found on which the deceased were burnt to death and

thereafter, the body was thrown in the river to destroy the

evidence. It was submitted that witnesses have supported the

prosecution version and the petitioner was in the house as she was

unmarried when such incident happened and most importantly, the

father of the petitioner was granted bail on the ground that he was

made accused only after ten months. However, the petitioner,

though not specifically named in the FIR, which states about a

sister of the husband of the deceased, but obviously refers to her as

she was the only sister living in the matrimonial house of the

deceased and the circumstances also go to prove that the petitioner

was involved in the heinous crime.

7. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the

case and submissions of learned counsel for the parties, the Court

is not inclined to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner.

8. Accordingly, the petition stands dismissed.

(Ahsanuddin Amanullah, J.)

P. Kumar

AFR/NAFR U T