Court No. - 66
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 16712 of 2021 Applicant :- Aslam And Another Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Abhishek Singh,Akshaivar Singh,Mohd. Naushad,Rajiv Sisodia Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Narendra Kumar Tiwari
Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J.
Rejoinder affidavit filed on behalf of the applicant is taken in the record.
Heard Shri Rajiv Sisodia, learned counsel for the applicants, Sri Nafees Ahmad, learned A.G.A. for the State and Shri Narendra Kumar Tiwari, learned counsel for the Electricity Department.
A first information report was lodged as Case Crime No.298 of 2020 at Police Station-Thana Bhawan, District-Shamli under Sections 136 and 137 of the Indian Electricity Act.
The bail application of the applicants was rejected by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Kairana on 29.01.2021.
The applicants are in jail since 08.12.2020, pursuant to the said F.I.R.
Shri Rajiv Sisodia, learned counsel for the applicants contends that the applicants have been falsely implicated in the instant case. The applicants were not named in the F.I.R. Countrymade pistols and other items for use in power transmission were planted on the applicants to frame them in the instant case to show the proficiency of the police investigators. There is no independent witness to the recovery. There is no evidence to connect the applicants with the crime. Learned counsel for the applicants have explained the criminal history of the applicants and further contends that the applicants have become a soft target and a convenient scapegoat for the police authorities who repeatedly nominated them in a number of cases only to burnish their professional credentials. Lastly it is contended by the learned counsel for applicants that the applicants shall not abscond and will fully cooperate in the criminal law proceedings. The applicants shall not tamper with the evidence nor influence the witnesses in any manner.
Learned A.G.A as well as Shri Narendra Kumar Tiwari, learned counsel for the Electricity Department could not satisfactorily dispute the aforesaid submissions from the record. However, they do not contest the criminal history of the applicants as disclosed in the bail application.
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.
I see merit in the submissions of the learned counsel for the applicants and hold that the applicants are entitled to be enlarged on bail.
In the light of the preceding discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed.
Let the applicants-Aslam and Shaukeen involved in Case Crime No.298 of 2020 at Police Station- Thana Bhawan, District-Shamli under Sections 136 and 137 of the Indian Electricity Act, be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions.
1. The applicants will not tamper with the evidence during the trial.
2. The applicants will not influence any witness.
3. The applicants will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted.
4. The applicants 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 them from disclosing such facts to the Court to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to move bail cancellation application before this Court.
Order Date :- 17.12.2021 Ashish Tripathi