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Punjab-Haryana High Court

Jassi Singh Alias Jassi Bhudar vs State Of Punjab And Another on 24 April, 2026

           CRM-M-12257-2026




                               IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
                                            AT CHANDIGARH

           211                                            CRM-M-12257-2026
                                                          Date of decision: 24.04.2026



            JASSI SINGH ALIAS JASSI BHUDAR

                                                                                  ......PETITIONER

                                                              Versus


            STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANOTHER
                                                                              ..... RESPONDENTS



           CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SURYA PARTAP SINGH

            Present:            Mr. Saksham Dudeja, Advocate
                                for the petitioner.

                                Mr. Rohit Bansal, Sr. DAG, Punjab.

                                      *****


           SURYA PARTAP SINGH, J.

1. This petition for bail is the first petition, filed by the petitioner

under Section 483 of 'the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023'. This

petition has been filed with regard to a case arising out of FIR No.304 dated

22.10.2023 for the commission of offence punishable under Section 302, 341,

148, 149, 201 of Indian Penal Code, 1860, Police Station Civil Lines, District

Bathinda.

2. Briefly stating the facts emerging from record are that the FIR of

this case came into being at the instance of 'Sant Ram', hereinafter being

referred to as 'complainant' only. It was stated by the above-named

complainant that on 22.10.2023 at about 07:00 P.M. he alongwith his son

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'Sangram @ Kaku' was going to the house of 'Manpreet Kaur @ Goshe', and

that on the way near the shop of Azad Tailor, a group comprising out of

'Yadwinder Singh @ Bona', 'Sukhbir Singh @ Pala', 'Anarjit Butari', 'Vikas

@ Goli', 'Jaini, 'Arvinder Kumar @ Kani', 'Ishu', 'Noni', 'Buchar Jassi' (the

petitioner herein), 'Ravi', 'Badku', 'Mintu @ Kulcha', 'Batish', 'Ajay' and 7-8

unknown persons armed with various weapons, such as swords, baseballs bats

and steel rods launched an assault upon 'Sangram @ Kaku', and inflicted

injuries on his person. As per complainant in the above-mentioned incident the

multiple injuries were suffered by 'Sangram @ Kaku' and the above-

mentioned injuries proves to be fatal.

3. It is the case of the prosecution that pursuant to above-mentioned

statement, formal FIR of this case was lodged and the investigation taken up.

4. Custody certificate has been filed by learned State counsel. The

same be taken on record. No formal reply has been filed by the State. However

the learned State counsel has opted to oppose orally the present petition.

5. Heard.

6. The record has been perused carefully.

7. A perusal of record shows that in the present case, following are

the relevant factors which are required to be taken into consideration for a

decision: -

i) that the petitioner is already in custody for a period of more than two years and five months;

ii) that the benefit of bail has already been accorded to similarly placed co-accused;

iii) that as recorded in the order dated 19.11.2025, by the co-ordinate Bench, the eye-witnesses and the complainant have not supported the prosecution case with regard to involvement of petitioner in

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the commission of offence;

iv) that otherwise also once the investigation is complete, nothing has been left to be recovered from the possession of petitioner;

v) that the trial is not likely to be concluded in near future as out of twenty five prosecution witnesses only four have been examined, so far;

vi) that the detention of petitioner in judicial lock-up is not likely to serve any useful purpose;

vii) that there is nothing on record to show that if released on bail, the petitioner may tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses;

viii) that there is nothing on record to show that if released on bail, the petitioner will not co-operate/participate in the trial.

8. In the present case, the principles of law laid down by the Hon'ble

Supreme Court of India in the case of 'Dataram versus State of Uttar Pradesh

and another', (2018) 3 SCC 22, are relevant, wherein it has been observed that

"a fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the presumption of

innocence, meaning thereby that a person is believed to be innocent until found

guilty. However, there are instances in our criminal law where a reverse onus

has been placed on an accused with regard to some specific offences but that is

another matter and does not detract from the fundamental postulate in respect

of other offences. Yet another important facet of our criminal jurisprudence is

that the grant of bail is the general rule and putting a person in jail or in a

prison or in a correction home (whichever expression one may wish to use) is

an exception. Unfortunately, some of these basic principles appear to have

been lost sight of with the result that more and more persons are being

incarcerated and for longer periods. This does not do any good to our criminal

jurisprudence or to our society. There is no doubt that the grant or denial of

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bail is entirely the discretion of the judge considering a case but even so, the

exercise of judicial discretion has been circumscribed by a large number of

decisions rendered by this Court and by every High Court in the country. Yet,

occasionally there is a necessity to introspect whether denying bail to an

accused person is the right thing to do on the facts and in the circumstances of

a case".

9. The principles laid down by the Hon'ble the Supreme Court of

India in the case of 'Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation

and Another' (2022) 10 SCC 51, are also relevant in this case. In the

abovementioned case, it has been observed that "the rate of conviction in

criminal cases in India is abysmally low. It appears to us that this factor weighs

on the mind of the Court while deciding the bail applications in a negative

sense. Courts tend to think that the possibility of a conviction being nearer to

rarity, bail applications will have to be decided strictly, contrary to legal

principles. We cannot mix up consideration of a bail application, which is not

punitive in nature with that of a possible adjudication by way of trial. On the

contrary, an ultimate acquittal with continued custody would be a case of grave

injustice".

10. Recently, in the case of 'Tapas Kumar Palit Vs. State of

Chhattisgarh', 2025 SCC Online SC 322, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India

has observed that "if an accused is to get a final verdict after incarceration of

six to seven years in jail as an undertrial prisoner, then, definitely, it could be

said that his right to have a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution

has been infringed". It has also been observed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court

of India in the abovementioned case that "delays are bad for the accused and

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extremely bad for the victims, for Indian society and for the credibility of our

justice system, which is valued. Judges are the masters of their Courtrooms and

the Criminal Procedure Code provides many tools for the Judges to use in

order to ensure that cases proceed efficiently".

11. To elucidate further, this Court is conscious of the basic and

fundamental principle of law that right to speedy trial is a part of reasonable,

fair and just procedure enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

This constitutional right cannot be denied to the accused as mandated by

Hon'ble Apex court in "Balwinder Singh versus State of Punjab and Another",

2024 SCC Online SC 4354.

12. If the cumulative effect of all the abovementioned factors,

involved in the instant case, is taken into consideration, it leads to a conclusion

that the petitioner is entitled for the benefit of bail, and that the present petition

deserves to be allowed.

13. Accordingly, without commenting anything on the merits of the

case, the present petition is hereby allowed. The petitioner is hereby ordered to

be released on bail on furnishing personal bond and surety bond(s) to the

satisfaction of learned trial Court. However the abovesaid concession shall be

subject to following conditions:-

(i) that the petitioner shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case, so as to dissuade him to disclose such facts to the Court or to any other authority.

(ii) that the petitioner shall at the time of execution of bond, furnish the address to the Court concerned and shall notify the change in address to the trial Court, till the final decision of the trial; and

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