Court No. - 76
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 51947 of 2021 Applicant :- Babu Ram Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Santosh Kumar Singh,Syed Wajid Ali Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.
Heard Sri Santosh Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record of the case.
The present bail application has been filed on behalf of applicant Babu Ram under Section 439 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 499 of 2019, under Sections 406, 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code, registered at Police Station- C.B. Ganj, District- Bareilly, during pendency of the trial.
It has been submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive. It has been further submitted that the first information report dated 16.11.2019 has been lodged against the applicant and 22 others persons stating therein that all the accused persons were taking KCC loan by making false and fabricated Khatauni. He next contended that without collecting any evidence during the course of investigation charge sheet has been submitted against the applicant. He next submitted that applicant is a poor farmer and was taken loan to the tune of Rs. 79,000/-. It has also been submitted that co-accuseds, Ram Swaroop and Chandrapal Singh, having similar role, have already been enlarged on bail by the Coordinate Benches of this Court vide orders dated 16.12.2021 & 20.12.2021 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos. 39387 of 2021 and 38395 of 2021 respectively and the applicant is also entitled to be enlarged on bail on the ground of parity.
It is next contended that no other criminal antecedent to his credit. It is next submitted that there is also no possibility of the applicant either fleeing away from the judicial process or tampering with the witnesses. The applicant, who is languishing in jail since 17.09.2021, undertakes that he will not misuse the liberty, if granted. It has also been pointed out that in the wake of heavy pendency of cases in the Court, there is no likelihood of any early conclusion of trial.
Per contra learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for bail. In case the applicant is released on bail, he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail.
It is settled position of law that bail is the rule and committal to jail is an exception in the case of State of Rajasthan Vs. Balchand @ Baliay (1977) 4 SCC 308, the Apex Court observed that refusal of bail is a restriction on the personal liberty of the individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and opined para 2 "The basic rule may perhaps be tersely put as bail, not jail, except where there are circumstances suggestive of fleeing from justice or thwarting the course of justice or creating other troubles in the shape of repeating offences or intimidating witnesses and the like, by the petitioner who seeks enlargement on bail from the court. We do. not intend to be exhaustive but only illustrative." and considering the facts of the case and keeping in mind, the ratio of the Apex Court's judgment in the case of Gudikanti Narasimhulu And Ors vs Public Prosecutor, High Court Of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1978 SC 429, larger mandate of Article 21 of the constitution of India, the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused-applicant, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interest of the public/ State and other circumstances, but without expressing any opinion on the merits, I am of the view that it is a fit case for grant of bail. Hence, the present bail application is allowed.
Let applicant, Babu Ram be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on his furnishing a personal bond and two reliable sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions-
(i) 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 him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
(ii) The applicant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witnesses.
(iii) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 313 of Cr.P.C.
(iv) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in the trial court.
(v) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.
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 on the merits of the case. 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 :- 24.12.2021 Ishan