Court No. - 54
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 48793 of 2018 Applicant :- Rambabu Opposite Party :- State Of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Rajesh Kumar Srivastava,Virendra Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Rajeev Misra,J.
Heard Mr. Virendra Kumar Srivastava, learned counsel for the applicant and the learned A.G.A. for the State.
Supplementary affidavit filed on behalf of the applicant in Court today is taken on record.
This bail application has been filed by the applicant Rambabu, seeking his enlargement on bail in Case Crime No. 141 of 2018 under Sections 498A, 304B IPC and 3/4 D.P. Act, P.S. Chhatta, District Agra during the pendency of the trial.
From the record, it appears that the marriage of the son of the applicant namely Pankaj was solemnized with Manju on 18.4.2018. After the expiry of a period of three months from the date of marriage of the applicant, an unfortunate incident occurred on 18.8.2018, in which the daughter-in-law of the applicant namely Manju died as she committed suicide by hanging herself. The F.I.R. in respect of the aforesaid incident was lodged on 4.8.2018 by the father of the deceased, which was registered as Case Crime No. 0141 of 2018 under Sections 498A, 304B IPC and 3/4 D.P. Act, P.S. Chhatta, District Agra. In the aforesaid F.I.R., seven persons namely, Pankaj (husband), Ram Babu (father-in-law), Jeetu and Shekhar (Devar), Baby (mother-in-law), Arti, Bharti (Nand) of the deceased were nominated as the named accused. The inquest of the deceased was conducted on 4.8.2018 not on the information of the applicant or any of his family members but on the information given by Prem Chandra (first informant). In the opinion of the Panch witnesses, the death of the deceased was characterized as suicidal. The postmortem of the body of the deceased was conducted on 5.8.2018. The Doctor, who conducted the autopsy on the body of the deceased opined that the cause of death of the deceased was asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem hanging. Except for the ligature mark, no other external ante-mortem injury was found on the body of the deceased. The Police upon completion of the statutory investigation of the aforesaid case crime number in terms of Chapter XII Cr.P.C. has submitted a charge-sheet dated 30.10.2018 only against Pankaj (husband), Ram Babu (father-in-law) i.e. applicant herein, Baby (mother- in-law) of the deceased. Rest of the named accused were excluded. What has happened subsequent thereto has not been detailed in the affidavit accompanying the bail application, nor the same has been disclosed by the learned counsel for the applicant at the time of hearing of the present bail application.
Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is the father-in-law of the deceased but he is innocent. The applicant is an old man aged about 61 years. The applicant is in jail since 10.9.2018. The applicant has criminal antecedents to his credit which have been duly explained in the supplementary affidavit. It is then urged that the applicant is residing separately from the house of the deceased. In support of the aforesaid, reliance is placed upon paragraphs 9 and 10 of the affidavit, for which there is no cogent denial by the learned A.G.A. It is next contended that the deceased was a short tempered lady and she has taken the extreme step of committing suicide by hanging herself. Only general and omnibus allegations have been made in the first information report regarding demand of dowry and commission of cruelty upon the deceased for non-fulfilment of dowry. The husband of the deceased is already languishing in jail. There is no statement of the deceased under section 161 Cr.P.C. or a dying declaration nor a suicide note has been recovered. As such, the present applicant being an old man as well as the father-in-law of the deceased is liable to be enlarged on bail.
Per contra, the learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for bail. He submits that the applicant is a charge sheeted accused under section 304B I.P.C. and he does not deserves any sympathy of this Court. However, the learned A.G.A. could not dispute the factual and legal submissions raised by the learned counsel for the applicant.
Having heard the learned counsel for the applicant and the learned A.G.A. for the State and upon perusal of the material brought on record as well as the complicity of the applicant and without making any comment on the merits of the case, I find that applicant has made out a case for bail.
Let the applicant Smt. Baby, 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 SHALL FILE AN UNDERTAKING TO THE EFFECT THAT HE/SHE 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.
(ii) THE APPLICANT SHALL REMAIN PRESENT BEFORE THE TRIAL COURT ON EACH DATE FIXED, EITHER PERSONALLY OR THROUGH HIS/HER COUNSEL. IN CASE OF HIS/HER ABSENCE, WITHOUT SUFFICIENT CAUSE, THE TRIAL COURT MAY PROCEED AGAINST HIM/HER UNDER SECTION 229-A IPC.
(iii) IN CASE, THE APPLICANT MISUSES THE LIBERTY OF BAIL DURING TRIAL AND IN ORDER TO SECURE HIS/HER 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/HER, IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW, UNDER SECTION 174-A IPC.
(iv) 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 THE HIM/HER IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW.
(v) THE TRIAL COURT MAY MAKE ALL POSSIBLE EFFORTS/ENDEAVOUR AND TRY TO CONCLUDE THE TRIAL WITHIN A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR AFTER THE RELEASE OF THE APPLICANT.
However, it is made clear that any wilful violation of above conditions by the applicant, shall have serious repercussion on his/her bail so granted by this court and the trial court is at liberty to cancel the bail, after recording the reasons for doing so, in the given case of any of the condition mentioned above.
Order Date :- 20.12.2018 Pkb/