Court No. - 74
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 16628 of 2021 Applicant :- Ankit Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Anil Kumar Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble J.J. Munir,J.
This is an application for bail on behalf of the applicant, Ankit, in connection with Case Crime No. 216 of 2020, under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 120B IPC, Police Station - Hathras Gate, District - Hathras.
Heard learned Counsel for the applicant and Mr. Shashi Shekhar Tiwari, learned A.G.A. appearing for the State through video conferencing.
It is submitted on behalf of the applicant that he has been falsely implicated in the present crime. It is submitted further that the case is one based on circumstantial evidence. It is pointed out that the deceased was on duty at the RO Plant of one Aditya Sharma, doing his night shift on the date of occurrence i.e. 09.07.2020. His body was found by Aditya Sharma on 10.07.2020 at 6:00 a.m. near the gate, leading to the Plant. It is pointed out that the applicant is neither the owner of the plant, where the deceased was on duty, nor he is nominated in the FIR. He has been arrested from home on the statement of Aditya Sharma recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C., who has attempted to connect him to the crime by looking at the CCTV Footage, where it is said that the applicant and the other accused were seen moving around. It is submitted that the CCTV Footage and the CDR do not prima facie indicate the involvement of the applicant, which is sought to be decisively connected on the basis of an extrajudicial confession made to the police. It is next submitted that the co-accused Brijwasi @ Brijbhan Singh has been admitted to bail by Hon'ble Ajit Singh, J. vide order dated 01.12.2020 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 38331 of 2020 and the other co-accused Anuj Parashar has been admitted to bail by Hon'ble Om Prakash-VII, J. vide order dated 26.11.2020 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 36406 of 2020, entitling the applicant to bail on the ground of parity. It is next submitted that the applicant is a respectable man, who is in jail since 13.07.2020.
The learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for bail.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of allegations, the gravity of the offence, the severity of punishment, the evidence appearing in the case, in particular, the fact that the case rests entirely on circumstantial evidence, where no one has seen anything from the CCTV Footage and CDR said to be relied upon by the prosecution which does not indicate, at this stage, that the applicant was caught on the camera, actually committing the crime, the fact that two other co-accused, identically circumstanced, have been admitted to bail, entitling the applicant to the benefit of parity, but without expressing any opinion on merits, this Court, finds it to be a fit case for bail.
The bail application, accordingly, stands allowed.
Let the applicant - Ankit involved in the aforesaid case be released on bail on executing his personal bond and furnishing two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Court concerned with the following conditions :
(i) The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence.
(ii) The applicant shall not threaten or harass the prosecution witnesses.
(iii) The applicant shall appear on the date fixed by the Trial Court.
(iv) The applicant shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which the applicant is accused, or suspected of the commission.
(v) The applicant 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 such person from disclosing facts to the Court or to any Police Officer or tamper with the evidence.
(vi) The party shall file computer generated copy of this order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad, which shall be self attested by the counsel of the party concerned.
(vii) The Court/Authority/Official concerned shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
In case of default of any of the condition(s) enumerated above, the prosecution would be free to move an application for cancellation of bail before this Court.
It is clarified that anything said in this order is limited to the purpose of determination of this bail application and will, in no way, be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case. It is further clarified that the Trial Court shall be absolutely free to arrive at its independent conclusions on the basis of evidence led, unaffected by anything said in this order.
Order Date :- 10.5.2021 I. Batabyal