Court No. - 54
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 7341 of 2018 Applicant :- Smt. Geeta Devi Opposite Party :- State Of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Manoj Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble J.J. Munir,J.
This is an application for bail on behalf of Smt. Geeta Devi in connection with Case Crime No. 508 of 2017 under Sections 498A, 304B, 201 IPC and Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, P.S. Talgram, District Kannauj.
Heard Sri Manoj Kumar Srivastava, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Kamal Singh Yadav, learned AGA along with Sri Kulveer Singh, learned counsel on behalf of the State.
The submission of learned counsel for the applicant is that the applicant is the mother-in-law; that there are general allegations against her with no specific role being assigned; that the deceased left home by night after a quarrel with her husband on 06.11.2017 and thereafter her dead body was recovered on 10.11.2017 at Nardah Ghat, Isan Nadi; that the applicant is an elderly woman of 62 years and cannot be credited with commission of a crime of violence; that the husband of the deceased is already in jail; and, that the applicant is a respectable woman with no criminal history who is in jail since 27.11.2017.
Learned AGA has opposed the bail plea with the submission that it is not a case which may indicate suicide; that the body of the deceased was recovered at Nardah Ghat, Isan Nadi; that in the PMR, the cause of death was shock and hemorrhage due to ante-mortem injuries which was caused by a hard and blunt object; that the PMR further shows that in the trachea, there is no weed or mud particle found which excludes the cause of drowning prima facie; and that it is absolutely a case where the deceased was done to death by the in-laws at home and her body thrown away in the river to make it look like a case of drowning. Learned counsel for the applicant at this stage has come up with a short rejoinder to say that even if it be considered to be a case of battering the deceased to death as the learned AGA would argue, the applicant who is an elderly woman of 62 years cannot be credited with the role of committing a violent crime.
Considering the overall facts and circumstances, the nature of allegations, the gravity of offence, the severity of punishment, the evidence appearing in the case, in particular, the fact that the applicant is the mother-in-law and an elderly woman of 62 years and the crime as made out is one of much violence done in the presence of the husband and other male members but without expressing any opinion on merits, this Court finds it to be a fit case for bail.
Accordingly, the bail application stands allowed.
Let the applicant Smt. Geeta Devi involved in Case Crime No. 508 of 2017 under Sections 498A, 304B, 201 IPC and Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, P.S. Talgram, District Kannauj be released on bail on executing a 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.
In case of default of any of the conditions enumerated above, the complainant would be free to move an application for cancellation of bail before this Court.
However, the benefit of this order will not be available to any of other co-accused, that is to say, the husband and other family members of the in-laws family.
Order Date :- 26.2.2018 Deepak