Court No. - 74
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 16718 of 2021 Applicant :- Mohd. Salim Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Hari Narayan Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble J.J. Munir,J.
This is an application for bail on behalf of the applicant, Mohd. Salim, in connection with Case Crime No. 141 of 2018, under Section 8/20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, Police Station - Doharighat, District - Mau.
Heard learned Counsel for the applicant and Mr. Shashi Shekhar Tiwari, learned A.G.A. appearing for the State.
Submission of the learned Counsel for the applicant is that the applicant has been falsely implicated, on an allegation that is fabricated, bogus and is a clear case of frame up. It is pointed out by the learned Counsel for the applicant that the First Information Report-cum-Recovery Memo in relation to the present crime dates back to 01.06.2018, wherein a total of 116.750 kg. of Ganja was shown to be recovered from five co- accused other than the applicant. On the basis of the recovery, separate First Information Reports were registered against the five apprehended co-accused, that is to say, Kaushik Datro, Santosh Gupta alias Sonu Gupta, Gopal Jaiswal, Brijesh Gupta and Shivam Jaiswal, from each of whom, 29 kg. 150 grams, 5 kg. 100 grams, 41 kg. 100 grams, 30 kg. 30 grams and 11 kg. 100 grams of Ganja was indicated to be recovered in that order. It is pointed out, therefore, that the total recovery cannot be said to be 116 kg. 750 grams. It is to be individually construed, as the indicated recovery from each of the accused, which is within the commercial quantity, and not above it. Quite apart, it is argued by the learned Counsel for the applicant that the applicant has neither been apprehended on the spot nor any recovery has been attributed to him. In fact, the applicant has nothing to do with the crime. He was not the driver of the offending vehicle, from which the recovery was made; else there was no difficulty in apprehending him on the spot, like the other accused. It is submitted that he is a truck driver and was plying his truck, after unloading it when he was asked by the Police to stop on 22.02.2021 on way from Mau to Barhalganj. He was asked to stop precisely at Doharighat by the local Police, who wanted him to ferry someone's luggage/goods to Azamgarh, which he declined. Thereafter, the police checked his vehicle papers and Driving License that were found in order. It is submitted that smitten over the applicant's refusal and not being able to find any fault with his papers, they implicated him in the present crime, showing him to be the driver of the vehicle who had escaped, while the other co-accused with the contraband were arrested. It is emphatically submitted by the learned Counsel for the applicant that it is a case where the Superintendent of Police, Mau ought to hold an inquiry in the matter. It is next submitted that of the various co-accused arrested on the spot with the contraband, Shivam Jaiswal has been admitted to bail by this Court vide order dated 05.07.2018 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 24889 of 2018; co-accused Kaushik Datro has been admitted to bail vide order dated 06.12.2018 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 46720 of 2018; co-accused Gopal Jaiswal has been admitted to bail vide order dated 19.12.2018 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 39778 of 2018 and co-accused Santosh Gupta alias Sonu Gupta has been granted bail vide order dated 03.07.2018 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 24538 of 2018. It is urged that all these men were arrested on the spot and had recoveries made from them in varying quantities. It is emphasized that different crime numbers have been registered against each of the accused on account of different quantities recovered, but the applicant has been challaned along with co-accused Gopal Jaiswal in Crime No. 141 of 2018. It is submitted that the applicant has no criminal history and is in jail since 22.02.2021.
The learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for bail.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of allegations, the gravity of the offence, the severity of punishment, the evidence appearing in the case, in particular, the fact that the applicant was not arrested from the spot and no recovery has been made from him, the fact that the circumstances of the applicant's implication are highly suspicious, where he has been connected to a crime two years after the occurrence, where, in the nature of the apprehension made, there were slim chances of the driver escaping, the fact that the other co-accused, from whom recoveries of the contraband in varying quantities have been made, have been admitted to bail, but without expressing any opinion on merits, this Court, finds it to be a fit case for bail.
The bail application, accordingly, stands allowed.
Let the applicant - Mohd. Salim involved in the aforesaid case be released on bail on executing his 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.
(vi) The party shall file computer generated copy of this order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad.
(vii) The computer generated copy of the order shall be self attested by the counsel of the party concerned.
(vii) The Court/Authority/Official concerned 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.
In case of default of any of the condition(s) enumerated above, the prosecution would be free to move an application for cancellation of bail before this Court.
It is clarified that anything said in this order is limited to the purpose of determination of this bail application and will, in no way, be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case. It is further clarified that the Trial Court shall be absolutely free to arrive at its independent conclusions on the basis of evidence led, unaffected by anything said in this order.
Order Date :- 11.5.2021 I. Batabyal