[Cites 2, Cited by 0]
Uttarakhand High Court
Dhruvo Kumar Das vs State Of Uttarakhand on 23 March, 2026
Author: Ravindra Maithani
Bench: Ravindra Maithani
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL
IA No.1 of 2023 For Bail Application
In
Criminal Appeal No. 889 of 2023
Dhruvo Kumar Das ...... Appellant
Vs.
State of Uttarakhand ..... Respondent
Present:
Mr. Vikas Anand and Mr. Deep Chandra Joshi, Advocate for the appellant.
Mr. B.N. Molakhi, D.A.G. for the State of Uttarakhand.
Coram: Hon'ble Ravindra Maithani, J.
Hon'ble Siddhartha Sah, J.
Hon'ble Ravindra Maithani, J. (Oral)
The instant appeal has been preferred against
judgment and order dated 02.12.2023, passed in Sessions Trial
No.30 of 2020, State Vs. Dhruvo Kumar Das, by the court of Third
Additional District and Sessions Judge, Rudrapur, District Udham
Singh Nagar. By it, the appellant has been convicted and
sentenced under Sections 302 and 201 IPC.
2. This appeal has already been admitted.
3. List in due course for final hearing.
4. Heard on Bail Application (IA) No.1 of 2023.
5. The FIR, in the instant case, was lodged by the
husband of the deceased. According to it, the deceased, who
happened to be the wife of the informant, was working as a cook
with the appellant. The appellant and the deceased both came
close to each other. Thereafter, the deceased had left the work.
The appellant was having his meals at the home of the informant,
but when the informant came to know about the relationship of
his wife with the appellant, he stopped offering meals to the
appellant. On 12.09.2019, the deceased left with the appellant,
and, subsequently, it was revealed that the dead body of the
deceased was lying in the house of the appellant.
6. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the
prosecution case is not reliable; according to the post mortem,
which was conducted on 23.09.2019, the deceased died a week
before the post mortem; there is no motive attributed to the
appellant; had the appellant been in relationship with the
deceased, he would have not killed her; the statement of PW3, the
informant, is not reliable when he says that on 12.09.2019, the
deceased had gone to the place of the appellant to quarrel with
him. It is argued that if after 12.09.2019, the deceased did not
return, there was no reason for PW3, the informant, for not
lodging a missing report, but, there has been no missing report,
and in paragraph 6 of his statement, PW3 has given a statement
that though he had given a copy of the missing report, but the
police had not accepted it; in fact, if there is any motive, it may be
with the informant, whose wife, according to the prosecution, was
in relationship with the appellant.
7. Learned State Counsel submits that the dead body
was found in the rented house of the appellant; the landlord has
stated about it.
8. It is a stage of bail post conviction. Much of the
discussion is not expected of. Arguments are being appreciated
with the caveat that any observation made in this order shall have
no bearing at any subsequent stage of the proceedings.
9. The husband of the deceased tells in the court
that the deceased had illicit relations with the appellant. He had
intervened, and after 12.09.2019, the deceased was not seen.
PW1, Gaurav Das Gupta, the landlord, tells that the appellant was
a tenant in his house where the deceased was also visiting. After
12.09.2019, the deceased and the appellant both were not
traceable. Subsequently, on 23.09.2019, he realized foul smell
from the room that was rented to the appellant. He informed the
police. When the lock was broken, the dead body of the deceased
was found below the bed.
10. The witnesses have stated that the dead body was
found in the house of the appellant. It was a death due to
strangulation. The appellant and the deceased were in
relationship. The husband of the deceased, who is PW3, had
objected to it.
11. Having considered, this Court does not see any
ground, which may entitle the appellant to bail. Accordingly, the
bail application deserves to be rejected.
12. The bail application is rejected.
(Siddhartha Sah, J.) (Ravindra Maithani, J.)
23.03.2026
Ravi Bisht
