Uttarakhand High Court
CRLA/126/2017 on 4 January, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND
AT NAINITAL
HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAYA KUMAR MISHRA
HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE ALOK KUMAR VERMA
4th JANUARY, 2023
Second Bail Application No. 4510 of 2022
In
Criminal Appeal No. 187 of 2017
Between:
Swaroop Singh .......... Appellant
and
State of Uttarakhand ......Respondent
With
Fourth Bail Application No. 11545 of 2022
In
Criminal Appeal No. 162 of 2017
Between:
Mange Ram and Another .......... Appellants
and
State of Uttarakhand ......Respondent
Mr. Arvind Vashistha, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Imran Ali,
learned counsel for the appellant-Swaroop Singh.
Mr. B.D. Pande and Mr. Rakshit Joshi, learned counsel for the appellants-
Mange Ram and Narendra.
Mr. Amit Bhatt, learned Deputy Advocate General for the State.
Upon hearing the learned counsel for the parties, this
Court made the following judgment:
(Per: Sri SANJAYA KUMAR MISHRA, J.)
These are successive bail applications filed by the
appellants- Swaroop Singh, Mange Ram and Narendra under Section
389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to
as "the Code" for brevity) for suspension of sentence and grant of
bail upon appeal. As per the order dated 03.05.2017, passed by the
learned IVth Additional Sessions Judge, Haridwar in Sessions Trial
No. 299 of 2004, the appellants- Swaroop Singh, Mange Ram and
Narendra have been convicted and sentenced to undergo life
imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.10,000/- for the offence
punishable under Section 368 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for
short, 'IPC'), and, in default of payment of fine, they have been
further directed to undergo additional imprisonment for a period of
six months and the appellant- Swaroop Singh has also been
convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life along with
a fine of Rs.10,000/- for the offence under Section 364A of IPC, and,
in default of payment of fine, he has to undergo imprisonment for a
period of six months.
2. It is borne out from the record that these three
appellants-Swaroop, Mange Ram and Narendra have not been
identified by the victim in the Court as the persons who have
kidnapped her. The case of these three appellants also stands on the
same footings as that of Shamim who has been granted bail upon
appeal by us in BAI No. 01 of 2022 in Criminal Appeal No. 126 of
2017. It is also submitted that all the applicants were on bail during
the course of trial and there is no allegation from the side of the
prosecution that they have misused the liberty granted to them
during the trial.
3. In the course of hearing, Mr. Arvind Vashistha, learned
Senior Advocate would draw attention of the Court to certain
portions of the judgment and the statement of the victim which
prima facie shows that the case of the prosecution that victim was
recovered from a car wherein these three appellants and Shamim
were present along with three others may in the ultimate analysis
be suspect. They all are permanent resident of District Haridwar and
Udham Singh Nagar and there is no reasonable apprehension of their
absconding from the process of justice.
4. Keeping in view the aforesaid consideration and the
principle of parity, we are inclined to allow the bail application.
Hence, the bail application is allowed. Sentence is hereby
suspended. The appellants - Swaroop Singh, Mange Ram and
Narendra be released on bail on suitable terms and conditions as
deemed just fit and proper by the learned IVth Additional Sessions
Judge, Haridwar, in aforesaid case.
5. We further stipulate that this order shall not be a
precedent for considering the application of appellants-Pradeep
Kumar and Noor Alam.
6. The matter be listed on 15.02.2023 for final disposal.
7. Grant urgent certified copy of this order as per Rules.
(Alok Kumar Verma, J.) (Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, J.)
04.01.2023
SK/SB
