Court No. - 76
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 46508 of 2021 Applicant :- Ramgopal Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Harish Chandra Yadav,Dinesh Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.
Heard Sri Harish Chandra Yadav, learned counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record of the case.
The present bail application has been filed on behalf of applicant Ramgopal under Section 439 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 100 of 2021, under Sections 406, 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code, registered at Police Station- Kotwali, District Fatehpur, during pendency of the trial.
It has been submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that the first information report has been lodged against the applicant and three others under Sections 406, 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 of I.P.C. It is further submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive. He next contended that the applicant has not received any money from the first informant and there is no evidence has been collected during the course of investigation in respect of money, which has been alleged to have been paid by the first informant to the applicant and other co-accused Kamlesh. It is further submitted that the applicant is not a beneficiary of any alleged transaction of money and the applicant did not make any promise to provide employment to the informant. It is further submitted that even if the first information report has been taken on its face, the applicant is a co-conspirator for planing to commit the said offence. The applicant has criminal history of one case, in which he has been granted on bail by the Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 03.09.2021 in Bail No. 8504 of 2021.
It has also been submitted that co-accused Kamlesh having similar role, has already been enlarged on bail by the Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 13.12.2021 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 46864 of 2021 and the applicant is also entitled to be enlarged on bail on the ground of parity. It is next contended that no other criminal antecedent to his credit. It is next submitted that there is also no possibility of the applicant either fleeing away from the judicial process or tampering with the witnesses. The applicant, who is languishing in jail since 03.09.2021, undertakes that he will not misuse the liberty, if granted. It has also been pointed out that in the wake of heavy pendency of cases in the Court, there is no likelihood of any early conclusion of trial.
Per contra learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for bail. In case the applicant is released on bail, he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail.
It is settled position of law that bail is the rule and committal to jail is an exception in the case of State of Rajasthan Vs. Balchand @ Baliay (1977) 4 SCC 308, the Apex Court observed that refusal of bail is a restriction on the personal liberty of the individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and opined para 2 "The basic rule may perhaps be tersely put as bail, not jail, except where there are circumstances suggestive of fleeing from justice or thwarting the course of justice or creating other troubles in the shape of repeating offences or intimidating witnesses and the like, by the petitioner who seeks enlargement on bail from the court. We do. not intend to be exhaustive but only illustrative." and considering the facts of the case and keeping in mind, the ratio of the Apex Court's judgment in the case of Gudikanti Narasimhulu And Ors vs Public Prosecutor, High Court Of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1978 SC 429, larger mandate of Article 21 of the constitution of India, the nature of accusations, the nature of evidence in support thereof, the severity of punishment which conviction will entail, the character of the accused-applicant, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused, reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the trial, reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being tampered with, the larger interest of the public/ State and other circumstances, but without expressing any opinion on the merits, I am of the view that it is a fit case for grant of bail. Hence, the present bail application is allowed.
Let applicant, Ramgopal be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on his furnishing a personal bond and two reliable sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions-
(i) 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 him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
(ii) The applicant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witnesses.
(iii) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 313 of Cr.P.C.
(iv) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in the trial court.
(v) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.
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 on the merits of the case. 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 :- 21.12.2021 Ishan