Court No. - 43
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 14578 of 2021 Applicant :- Bhaguwa Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Ahmad Ali Siddiqui Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Samit Gopal,J.
Matter taken up through video conferencing.
Heard Sri Ahmad Ali Siddiqui, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Virendra Kumar Maurya, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record.
This bail application under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure has been filed by the applicant- Bhaguwa, seeking enlargement on bail during trial in connection with Case Crime No. 89 of 2020, under Section 302 I.P.C., registered at Police Station Hasanpur, District Amroha.
As per the first information report lodged by Smt. Geeta, she was informed by her husband on 14.02.2020 that her father-in- law has died and when she saw her father-in-law, injuries were found around his neck. Someone had strangulated him to death. There was some dispute of the deceased Munni Lal with one Prakash. In the postmortem report, the doctor has opined the cause of death as Asphyxia due to strangulation and has found one horizontal ligature mark around the neck but has not found any other bodily injury.
Learned counsel for the applicant argued that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is argued that the applicant is not named in the first information report which has been registered against unknown persons. It is further argued that subsequently, Prithi was interrogated by the Investigating Officer, the copy of the statement is annexed as Annexure-12 to the affidavit on 16.06.2020 who has stated that he in the afternoon saw co-accused Omkar, Subhash and the applicant coming out of the house of the deceased and the said persons were quite disturbed and Omkar was having a rope in his hand. He further states that he has a belief that the said persons have committed murder. It is further argued that there is no recovery of any incriminating material either from the possession or pointing out of the applicant. It is argued that co-accused Subhash and Omkar have been granted bail by different co- ordinate Benches of this Court vide orders dated 18.11.2020 and 25.11.2020 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos.
38091 of 2020 and 40930 of 2020, the copy of the said orders is annexed as Annexure- 15 & 16 to the affidavit. It is argued that the case of the applicant is identical to that of co-accused persons and even better to that of co-accused Omkar, who as per the said statement was seen having a rope in his hand while coming out from the house of the deceased and the said rope was allegedly recovered on the pointing out of co-accused Omkar.
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 pointed out that the applicant is not having any criminal history as stated in para 30 of the affidavit and he is in jail since 05.07.2020 and there is no likelihood of early conclusion of trial and hence, the applicant may be released on bail during pendency of trial.
Learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for bail.
After perusing the record in the light of the submissions made at the bar and after taking an overall view of all the facts and circumstances of this case, the nature of evidence, the period of detention already undergone, the unlikelihood of early conclusion of trial and also the absence of any convincing material to indicate the possibility of tampering with the evidence, this Court is of the view that the applicant may be enlarged on bail.
Let the applicant- Bhaguwa, be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions which are being imposed in the interest of justice:-
i) The applicant will not tamper with prosecution evidence and will not harm or harass the victim/complainant in any manner whatsoever.
ii) The applicant will abide the orders of court, will attend the court on every date and will not delay the disposal of trial in any manner whatsoever.
(iii) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the date fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.
(iv) The applicant will not misuse the liberty of bail in any manner whatsoever. In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure his presence proclamation under section 82 Cr.P.C., may be issued and if applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against him, in accordance with law, under section 174-A I.P.C.
(v) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on dates fixed for (1) opening of the case, (2) framing of charge and (3) recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against him in accordance with law and the trial court may proceed against him under Section 229- A IPC.
(vi) The trial court may make all possible efforts/endeavour and try to conclude the trial expeditiously after the release of the applicant.
The identity, status and residential proof of sureties will be verified by court concerned and in case of breach of any of the conditions mentioned above, court concerned will be at liberty to cancel the bail and send the applicant to prison.
The bail application is allowed.
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 :- 26.5.2021 AS Rathore (Samit Gopal,J.)