Court No. - 55
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 17288 of 2018 Applicant :- Lalta Prasad And Another Opposite Party :- State Of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Ashok Kumar Srivastava,Sudhir Dixit Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Raj Kumar
Hon'ble Vivek Kumar Singh,J.
Counter affidavit filed on behalf of the complainant is taken on record.
Heard Sri A.K.Srivastava alongwith Sri Sudhir Dixit, learned counsel for the applicants, Sri Neeraj Tripathi holding brief of Sri Raj Kumar, learned counsel for the complainant and Sri O.P. Mishra, learned A.G.A. appearing for the State.
According to the prosecution case, F.I.R. was lodged by the complainant against the applicants alleging that they have enticed away his daughter aged about 17 years on the pretext to get her marriage solemnized with one of the applicants namely Shivam.
Learned counsel for the applicants in support of their prayer for bail submits that the applicants are innocent and they has been falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive and they have committed no offence.It is next contended that there is inordinate delay of about 9 days in lodging the report for which no plausible explanation has been given by the prosecution. From perusal of the statements of the prosecutrix recorded under sections 161 Cr.P.C. & 164 Cr.P.C. it appears that she had gone with one of the applicant Shivam on her own volition and she was not enticed away by them. In fact the victim had fallen in love with Shivam and they were known to each other very well. They had gone to Aligarh and stayed there for a week and while returning back from Robertsganj to Allahabad they were caught by the police. The prosecutrix was a consenting party. Applicant Lalta Prasad has no role to play in the present case. As per medical report neither any internal or external injury was found on the person of the victim and no definite opinion could be given by the doctor for any kind of sexual assault. Several other submissions in order to demonstrate the falsity of the allegations made against the applicants have also been placed forth before the court. The circumstances which, according to the counsel, led to the false implication of the accused has also been touched upon at length. It has been assured on behalf of the applicant that they are ready to cooperate with the process of law and shall faithfully make themselves available before the court whenever required. It has also been submitted that the applicants are languishing in jail since 22.2.2018.The applicants have no other reported criminal antecedent.
Learned counsel for the complainant and learned A.G.A. opposed the prayer for bail.
Considering the nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, reasonable apprehension of tampering with the witnesses and prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge, the applicants are entitled to be released on bail in this case.
Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, let the applicants Lalta Prasad and Shiv Kumar @ Shivam involved in Case Crime No. 37 of 2018 under Sections 363, 366 I.P.C. & Sec.16/17 POCSO Act,, P.S.Ghorawal, District Sonbhadra be released on bail on their furnishing a personal bond with two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions.
1. The applicants will continue to attend and co-operate in the trial pending before the court concerned on the date fixed after release.
2. They will not tamper with the witnesses.
3. They will not indulge in any illegal activities during the bail period.
It is further directed that the identity, status and residence proof of the sureties be verified by the authorities concerned before they are accepted.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the trial court will be at liberty to cancel the bail.
Order Date :- 26.7.2018 IA