Court No. - 79
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 27896 of 2021 Applicant :- Pramod Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Yogesh Kumar Srivastava,Noor Muhammad
Hon'ble Saurabh Shyam Shamshery,J.
1. Heard Shri Noor Muhammad, learned counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A. and perused the record.
2. The applicant has approached this Court by way of filing the present Criminal Misc. Bail Application seeking enlargement on bail in Case Crime No.301 of 2014, under Sections 147, 148, 307, 34, 302, 120B IPC and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act, Police Station - Malpura, District –Agra.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that initially the First Information Report was lodged against three named and 2- 3 unnamed persons, wherein applicant was not named. During investigation, one of the co-accused namely Sunny was arrested. He gave his confessional statement wherein the name of applicant and other co-accused were disclosed. It is further submitted that the co-accused Sunny and similarly situated other co-accused have already been granted bail by this Court and the orders are part of this application. Alleged role of the applicant is of being part of hatching conspiracy. Applicant is languishing in jail since 16.7.2014 and his bail application was rejected by the trial court on 6.12.2018. It is also pointed out that there is no progress in the trial. It is lastly submitted that there is no likelihood of early disposal of trial and applicant undertakes that if he is enlarged on bail, he will never misuse his liberty, will not commit any offence during bail and will co- operate in the trial.
4. Learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the prayer of bail. However, he is not able to dispute that name of applicant, which was disclosed in confessional statement of co-accused Sunny has already been granted bail and also that similarly situated co- accused, who were named by co-accused - Sunny, were granted bail, way back in the year 2014.
5. (A) Law on bail is well settled that 'Bail is rule and Jail is exception'. Bail should not be granted or rejected in a mechanical manner as it concerns liberty of a person. At the time of considering an application for bail, the Court must take into account certain factors such as existence of a prima facie case against the accused, gravity of the allegations, severity of punishment, position and status of the accused, likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice and repeating the offence, reasonable apprehension of tampering with the witnesses and obstructing the Courts as well as criminal antecedents of the accused.
(B) It is also well settled that the Court while considering an application for bail must not go into deep merits of the matter such as question of credibility and reliability of prosecution witnesses which can only be tested during the trial. Even ground of parity is one of the above mentioned aspects which are essentially required to be considered.
(C) It is also well settled that the grant or refusal of bail is entirely within the discretion of the judge hearing the matter and though that discretion is unfettered, it must be exercised judiciously and in a humane manner, compassionately and not in whimsical manner. The Court should record the reasons which have weighed with the count for the exercise of its discretionary power for an order granting or rejecting bail. Conditions for the grant of bail ought not to be so strict as to be incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail illusory.
6. Considering the rival submission, material available on record, the period of detention already undergone, the unlikelihood of early conclusion of trial, absence of any convincing material to indicate the possibility of tampering with the evidence, relevant factors mentioned above, particularly that name of applicant was disclosed in the confessional statement of co-accused - Sunny, who has already been granted bail as well as similarly situated co-accused were granted bail, way back in the year 2014. Taking note that applicant is in jail since 16.7.2014 and there is no progress in the trial, the applicant has a criminal history of one case wherein he is on bail, this Court is of the view that a case of grant of bail is made out.
7. Let applicant - Pramod 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 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 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 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 Trial Court absence of applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for Trial Court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against him in accordance with law and Trial Court may proceed against him under Section 229-A IPC.
8. 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.
9. The bail application is allowed.
10. It is made clear that the observations made hereinabove are only for the purpose of adjudicating the present bail application.
11. The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad.
12. The computer generated copy of such order shall be self attested by the counsel of the party concerned.
13. It is expected from the trial court that trial of this case will be concluded expeditiously and while granting any adjournment, trial court will take note of the provisions of Section 309 Cr.P.C.
14. The concerned Court/Authority/Official 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.
Order Date :- 29.7.2021 Rishabh Digitally signed by SAURABH SHYAM SHAMSHERY Date: 2021.08.02 11:08:25 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad