Court No. - 52
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 29791 of 2021 Applicant :- Jitendra Kumar @ Jitendra Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Birendra Singh,Yash Pratap Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Samit Gopal,J.
Heard Sri Yash Pratap Singh, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Akhilesh Kumar Tripathi, learned counsel for the State and perused the material on record.
This bail application under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure which has been filed by the applicant Jitendra Kumar @ Jitendra, seeking enlargement on bail during trial in connection with Case Crime No. 637 of 2020, under Section 306 I.P.C., Police Station Kotwali, District Fatehpur.
Learned counsel for the applicant argued that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is argued that initially, First Information Report was registered under Sections 302, 395, 504 IPC by Ramraj against the applicant and three other accused persons and one unknown person stating therein that there was some dispute of money between the parties due to which Dhirendra Kumar has been murdered. Subsequently, six witnesses namely Ved Prakash, Lakhan Pal, Amarnath, Vinay Dwivedi, Atul Tiwari and Raj Kumar Maurya were interrogated under Section 161 Cr.P.C, copies of the statements are annexed as annexure 3 who stated that the deceased was having love affair with the daughter of Ram Gopal and since there was some dispute between them as they wanted to marry each other which was not agreeable to the parties, the deceased got annoyed and committed suicide. It is argued that then the police converted the said case from Sections 302, 395, 504 IPC to Section 306 IPC. It is argued that no ingredients of Section 306 and 107 IPC are missing. It is further argued that there is no abetment and instigation of any kind by the applicant which has any nexus with the death of the deceased. The applicant has no mens-rea at all. There is no overt act whatsoever of the applicant which resulted in the death of the deceased, the applicant has no motive at all to commit the aforesaid offence. It is further argued that as per the postmortem report the cause of death of the deceased is asphyxia as a result of antimortem handing and there is only one ligature mark on the body of the deceased without any external injury. It is further argued that the prosecution story as per the First Information Report, the implication of the applicant is false. The applicant is in jail since 16.04.2021 having no criminal antecedents as stated in para 4 of the affidavit.
Per contra, learned counsel for the State opposed the prayer for bail but could not dispute the arguments as raised.
After having heard learned counsels for the parties and perusing the records, it is apparent that the present case has been converted into Section 306 IPC. There is no abetment and instigation of any kind by the applicant which has any nexus with the death of the deceased. The applicant has no mens-rea at all. There is no overt act whatsoever of the applicant which resulted in the death of the deceased. The applicant has no motive at all to commit the aforesaid offence.
Looking to the facts and circumstances of this case, the nature of evidence 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 Jitendra Kumar @ Jitendra, 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 :- 13.8.2021 M. ARIF (Samit Gopal, J.)