Court No. - 88
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 2800 of 2020 Appellant :- Jitendra Upadhyay Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Appellant :- Shambhavi Nandan Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Suraj Kumar Singh
Hon'ble Ajit Kumar,J.
Counter affidavit filed today by learned counsel for the complainant is taken on record.
Rejoinder affidavit to the counter affidavit filed by learned A.G.A. is also filed by the appellant which is also taken on record.
Heard Sri Shambhavi Nandan, learned Counsel for the appellant-applicant, Sri Suraj Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the complainant, learned AGA and perused the record.
This Criminal appeal under Section 14-A(2) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has been preferred by the appellant- Jitendra Upadhyay with the prayer to set aside the bail rejection order dated 30.09.2020 passed by learned Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Azamgarh in Bail Application No. 2542 of 2020 in Case Crime No. 173 of 2020 under Sections 419, 420, 353, 333, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3(2)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(va) of SC/ST Act and Section 60 of U.P. Excise Act, P.S.- Raunapar, District- Azamgarh.
As per the allegations in the first information report inspection of english liquor shop was suddenly conducted in which certain material was collected with open bottles and caps which were indicative of adulteration in foreign made liquor. After the report was prepared and present applicant was asked to sign the report of inspection, he refused to do the same and instead got the licensee and one Ajay Singh, his son, arrived at the shop and thereafter, as per the allegations all the three accused persons inclusive of the applicant started beating the inspection team.
It is argued on behalf of the appellant that the appellant is a mere seller at the shop and has nothing to do with the other affairs of the licensee. The licensee is Rama Singh and if any mischief has been committed, the said Rama Singh will be responsible for the same. Jitendra Upadhyay namely the applicant is merely a person who maintains the shop for the porposes of sale and the receives price in lieu thereof from the purchasers and looks after the cash box. It is further argued that the entire first information report is an afterthought and full of cock and bull story as he argues that once incident had taken place at 7.35 p.m. on 30.08.2020 and if an officer of the Excise Department was physically attacked and assaulted, he would have immediately got himself medically examined and lodged the first information report but the first information report has been lodged only at late night on the next day and the injury was also got examined at 5.30 p.m. next day of the incident and further the injury report of the officer does not show any grievous injury so as to corroborate the version of first information report. It is further argued by the learned counsel that in the wake of heavy pendency of cases in the Court, there is no chance of any early conclusion of trial. The applicant is languishing in jail since 11.09.2020.
Though the appeal has been opposed vehemently by the learned A.G.A. as well as learned counsel for the complainant but they could not dispute the aforesaid facts and particularly the delay in lodging the first information report when an officer of Excise Department was assaulted.
I have considered the rival submissions so made and having gone through the entire record including the order by which, bail application of the appellant-applicant has been rejected, impugned herein this appeal and having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and keeping in view the evidence, complicity of accused, I am of the view that the appellant has made out a case for bail.
Accordingly, this appeal is allowed and the impugned order dated 30.09.2020 rejecting the bail of the appellant is set aside.
Let the above named accused-appellant involved in the aforesaid crime be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of Court concerned subject to the condition that applicant shall cooperate in the trial and will not jump the bail.
The concerned Court/Authority/Official is further directed to 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 :- 6.1.2021 IrfanUddin