Court No. - 64
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 4514 of 2021 Appellant :- Neeraj Kumar Shukla Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Appellant :- Atipriya Gautam,Ishir Sripat,Sr. Advocate,Vinod Kumar Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Anurag Vajpeyi,Praveen Kumar Singh
Hon'ble Saumitra Dayal Singh,J.
1. Counter affidavit filed by the private opposite party and rejoinder affidavit to the counter affidavit filed by the State are taken on record.
2. Heard Sri Vijay Gautam learned Senior Counsel assisted by Sri Ishir Sripat, learned counsel for the appellant; Sri Anurag Vajpayee learned counsel for the informant and Sri Nagendra Kumar Srivastava, learned AGA for the State and perused the material placed on record.
3. This criminal appeal under Section 14-A(2) of The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has been preferred by the appellant with the prayer to set aside the order dated 04.10.2021, passed by learned Special Judge S.C./S.T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Gautam Budh Nagar, in Case Crime No. 925 of 2021, under Sections - 147, 332, 353, 504 and 506 I.P.C. and Section 3(1)Da)(Dha) , S.C./S.T. (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Police Station - Sector-24 Noida, District - Gautam Budh Nagar, whereby bail application of the appellant has been rejected.
4. At the outset, learned counsel for the appellant submits, against the FIR lodged on 15.9.2021, the appellant is in confinement since 17.9.2021; the appellant claims to have cooperated in the investigation. In any case he is not shown to have unduly evaded arrest; the appellant has no criminal history; chargesheet has already been submitted yet, trial has not commenced. Therefore, there is no hope of early conclusion of the trial; on prima facie basis, it has been submitted by learned Senior Counsel that the present prosecution allegations have emerged by way of counter blast to the earlier litigation instituted by the present appellant seeking transfer of an Accountant posted in the RTO office of Gautam Budh Nagar; it is further stated that at the instance of the appellant, a transfer order had been passed; incensed by that, present FIR has been lodged; in any case investigation has concluded; evidence that is to be adduced at the trial is of government officials; the appellant is only a member of the Noida Media Club; there is no role of intimidation or tampering of evidence. Also, it has been submitted, the allegations of violation of SC/ST Act are general and made to lend colour to the story.
5. Learned counsel for the informant has vehemently urged that he applicant is a nuisance maker; he is obstructing the normal government functioning; he is habituated of visiting RTO office only to create pressure on the government officials to extract favours; the first informant has no connection with the civil litigation. Learned A.G.A. has also opposed the prayer for bail of the appellant.
6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, having perused the record and keeping in mind the allegation and the offence alleged and the further fact that the appellant has remained confined for three months, it appears that the appellant is entitled to bail at this stage. At present, the order passed by the learned court below rejecting the bail application filed by the appellant, cannot be sustained.
7. Without drawing any inference as to facts, in view of the above noted facts & submissions and having regard to the status of the evidence, as has been shown to exist on record, let the appellant be enlarged on bail at this stage.
8. Accordingly, this appeal is allowed and the impugned order dated 04.10.2021, rejecting the bail of the appellant is set aside.
9. Let the accused-appellant, namely, Neeraj Kumar Shukla, involved in the aforesaid crime be released on bail on his furnishing personal bonds and two sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of Court concerned subject to the condition that appellant shall cooperate in the trial and will not jump the bail.
Order Date :- 23.12.2021 Faraz