Court No. - 71
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 20806 of 2021 Applicant :- Ashok Kumar Goel Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Anurag Shukla,Gopal Swarup Chaturvedi(Senior Adv.) Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,A.C.Srivastava,Nitin Srivastava
Hon'ble Vivek Kumar Singh,J.
Heard Sri Gopal Swarup Chaturvedi, learned Senior counsel assisted by Sri Anurag Shukla, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Nitin Srivastava, learned counsel on behalf of opposite party, Sri Sanjay Singh, learned AGA-I, appearing for the State and perused the material brought on record.
It has been contended by the learned counsel for the applicant that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case with malafide intention. It is next contended that the matter is purely of a contractual and civil nature regarding which a civil suit is pending before the court below for adjudication of the real controversies. The informant falsely implicated the applicant in the present case in counter blast to the case crime no. 261 of 2016 lodged against him. The informant wants that the applicant may not be released on bail and permanently remain in jail, in this regard the informant has lodged the case against the applicant again and again, the said fact has been mentioned in para 26 to the affidavit filed in support of bail application. Several other submissions in order to demonstrate the falsity of the allegations made against the applicant have also been placed forth before the Court. The circumstances which, according to the counsel, led to the false implication of the accused has also been touched upon at length. It has been assured on behalf of the applicant that he is ready to cooperate with the process of law and shall faithfully make himself available before the court whenever required. It has also been submitted that the applicant is languishing in jail since 04.02.2021. Criminal history of the applicant has been duly explained in paragraph no. 35 of the affidavit accompanying the bail application.
Learned counsel on behalf of opposite party as well as learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the prayer.
Courts have taken notice of the overcrowding of jails during the current pandemic situation (Ref.: Suo Motu Writ Petition (c) No. 1/2020, Contagion of COVID 19 Virus in prisons before the Supreme Court of India). These circumstances shall also be factored in while considering bail applications on behalf of accused persons.
Having heard the submissions of learned counsel of both sides, nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge, reformative theory of punishment, and larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the dictum of Apex Court in the case of Dataram Singh v. State of U.P. and another, reported in (2018) 2 SCC 22 and without expressing any opinion on the merit of the case, I find it to be a case of bail.
Let applicant- Ashok Kumar Goel, be released on bail in Case Crime No. 249 of 2017, under Sections- 420, 467, 468, 471, 447 IPC, Police Station- Kankar Khera, District- Meerut, on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties of Rs. Three Lacs each (One should be of a family member) before the magistrate/court concerned, subject to following conditions:-
1. The applicant will attend and co-operate the trial proceedings pending before the court concerned on the date fixed after release.
2. He will not tamper with the witnesses.
3. He will not indulge in any illegal activities during the bail period.
The identity, status and residential proof of sureties will be verified by the court concerned and in case of breach of any of the above conditions, the court below shall be at liberty to cancel the bail and send the applicant to prison.
It is clarified that the observations, if any, made in this order are strictly confined to the disposal of this bail application and must not be construed to have any reflection on the ultimate merits of the case.
In case of breach of of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.
The trial court is directed to expedite the trial of the present case and conclude the same expeditiously preferably within a period of six months from the date of production of a certified copy of this order, if there is no legal impediment.
The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad.
The computer generated copy of such order shall be self attested by the counsel of the party concerned.
The concerned Court/Authority/Official 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.
Order Date :- 30.7.2021 Arti