Court No. - 78
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 37608 of 2021 Applicant :- Narpat Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Amit Kumar Srivastava,Devashish Mitra Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Santosh Kumar Singh,Syed Wajid Ali
Hon'ble Samit Gopal,J.
Heard Sri Amit Kumar Srivastava, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Santosh Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the first informant and Sri S.B. Maurya, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record.
This bail application under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure has been filed by the applicant- Narpat, seeking enlargement on bail during trial in connection with Case Crime No. 327 of 2021, under Sections 302 and 201 I.P.C., registered at Police Station Baheri, District Bareilly.
The first information report in the present case was lodged by Nayan Singh on 01.06.2021 at 23.23 hours naming the applicant and one other person namely Ranu alias Ranvin alleging therein that on 31.05.2021 his brother Chatrapal alias Nandu ( deceased) went from house about 6 A.M. to cut sugarcane. He did not return home till afternoon and when his son Rakesh went to the field he found his slippers and a rope there but there was no trace of Chatrapal. He was searched in the field and in the pond nearby till late night. Next day in the morning many people and people of the family found his dead body lying in the sugarcane field whereas the dead body was not present there till night. Some one had concealed the dead body and has now thrown it in the field. Ram Singh and Harpal of the village told him that yesterday at about 11 A.M. the accused persons had assaulted the deceased. He states that there is an old enmity between them. The accused persons are resident of his village and they have murdered his brother and had thrown the dead body in the field.
Learned counsel for the applicant has argued that the present case is a case of circumstantial evidence. There is no eye witness of the murder. It is further argued that subsequently Ram Singh was interrogated who stated that on 31.05.2021 between 9A.M. to 10 A.M. he saw the accused persons and the deceased in his field who were drinking liquor and were fighting with each other. It is argued that later on after about 22 days of the incident, Tej Pal and Puspendra Singh were interrogated who also stated of this fact that on 31.05.2021 about 8 A.M. they saw the accused persons drinking liquor. Later on he came to know through a gossip in the village that the applicant and co-accused have murdered the deceased. It is argued that there is no credible evidence against the applicant in the present matter. The prosecution has shown recovery of a danda on the joint pointing of the applicant and co-accused which has no corroboration of its use in the incident and even the recovery is not admissible. It is argued that the recovery of the danda is from an open place and danda is a commonly available article. It is further argued that the present first information has been lodged after recovery of the dead body and the accused applicant has been implicated on the information received from Ram Singh and Harpal. The applicant is having no criminal history as stated in paragraph no. 25 of the affidavit and is in jail since 05.06.2021.
Per contra learned counsel for the first informant and learned A.G.A. vehemently opposed the prayer for bail and argued that apart from Ram Singh and Harpal, Smt. Nanhi and Smt. Kusuma are also the witnesses, who have stated about the motive of the applicant to commit the aforesaid offence. It is argued that there is evidence of the applicant and deceased being together and drinking liquor. The dead body of the deceased was then recovered later on.
After heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record it is evident that the present case is a case of circumstantial evidence. There is no eye witness of the murder. The evidence is of last scene of the applicant with the deceased while they were drinking liquor and later on the dead body was found in the field on the next morning.
Let the applicant- Narpat, 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.
(Samit Gopal,J.) Order Date :- 17.12.2021 Abhishek Singh