Court No. - 52
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 29838 of 2021 Applicant :- Rehan @ Rihan Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Rajeev Kumar Tripathi,Rajesh Kumar Mishra Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Mohammad Nadeem
Hon'ble Samit Gopal,J.
Heard Sri Rajesh Kumar Mishra, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Mohammad Nadeem learned counsel for the first informant and Sri S.B. Maurya, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record.
In spite of a stop order dated 17.09.2021, no counter affidavit has been filed till date by learned counsel for the first informant.
This bail application under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure has been filed by the applicant- Rehan @ Rihan, seeking enlargement on bail during trial in connection with Case Crime No. 117 of 2021, under Sections 498-A, 304-B I.P.C. and Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, registered at Police Station Kotwali Kannauj, District Kannauj.
The first information report in the present case was lodged on 23.02.2021 by Hashim, the brother of the deceased against the applicant and his family members stating therein that the marriage of his sister, Mehajbeen was solemnized with the applicant on 27.03.2019 in which a lot of dowry was given. The applicant (Rehan), who is the husband of the deceased and his family members, demanded a car, Rs. 5 lakhs and gold & silver jewellery which was also given. Later on, the accused persons being unhappy with the same, demanded additional dowry of Rs. 10 lakhs, used to pressurize the deceased to bring the same from her maternal house and used to abuse her and beat her. She made a complaint about it several times to us, which was informed by us at the police station but no action was taken. The matter was then kept in the village Panchayat but the accused persons did not agree to it and stated that they will not keep his sister unless the dowry is given. About a month back, his sister was beaten and thrown out of her matrimonial house. On 18.02.2021, Panchayat was again called with regards to the same in village Ahmedpur which was attended by the in-laws and husband of the deceased in which they agreed to take his sister but only after their demand of dowry gets fulfilled. The applicant abused his sister and said to her to finish herself as they will not take her, if the demand is not fulfilled and they will marry Rehan with someone else and they abused his sister due to which on 20.02.2021, his sister committed suicide by hanging herself.
Learned counsel for the applicant argued that although the applicant is the husband of the deceased but he has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is argued that at the first instance, an information was given by Mushir Ali, the other brother of the deceased at the Police Station- Kotwali Kannauj on 20.02.2021 at 22:49 hours stating that on 20.02.2021 at about 08:30 PM, his sister has committed suicide by hanging herself. The dead body is still hanging at the said place. Subsequently, the inquest was conducted wherein Mushir Ali and three other brothers of the deceased were witness and the officer did not find any other bodily injury except for the ligature mark on the body of the deceased. Later on, the postmortem examination of the deceased was conducted on 21.02.2021 and even there, the doctor found single ligature mark on the body of the deceased. The cause of death was opined as asphyxia as a result of hanging. Subsequently, after two days of the postmortem examination, the present first information report has been lodged by Hashim, another brother of the deceased, who is also a witness of the inquest. It is argued that the entire prosecution story is a falsity and the deceased committed suicide in her maternal house. There is no evidence whatsoever with regards to any such Panchayat being called. It is further argued that the story regarding demand of dowry is false and without any evidence. Paragraph 14 has been placed by the learned counsel to buttress the said argument.
Learned counsel has argued that after 15 days of marriage of the deceased with the applicant, she started pressurizing her husband to live separately and then she moved back to her maternal house and started living with her family members. The gifts given in the marriage were taken back by her. She was having some illicit relationship with someone. Paragraph 13 has been placed to to buttress the said argument. It is further argued that co-accused Raheesh Khan, the father-in-law and Rukasana Begum, the mother-in-law of the deceased, have been granted bail by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 21.06.2021 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 2126 of 2021, the copy of the said order is annexed as Annexure-10 to the affidavit. The applicant has no criminal history as stated in para 17 and is in jail since 06.03.2021.
Per contra, learned counsel for the first informant and learned A.G.A. have vehemently opposed the prayer for bail and argued that the marriage of the deceased with the applicant was solemnized on 27.03.2019 after which in the month of April, 2019 due to demand of dowry, torture and harassment, the deceased was forced to leave her matrimonial house and live in her maternal house. There has been continuous demand of dowry by the applicant and his family members of Rs. 10 lakhs. The deceased although has committed suicide in her maternal house, but the same was due to the continuous torture, harassment and demand of dowry by the applicant and his family members. It is argued that there was a Panchayat which had assembled due to the dispute between the couple and there are witnesses to state about the same. It is further argued that the applicant is the husband of the deceased and there are allegations of torture, harassment and demand of dowry against him. It is argued that the prayer for bail be rejected.
After having heard the learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record, it is evident that the applicant is the husband of the deceased. The deceased died within two years of her marriage and the death is unnatural. Although the deceased has died in her maternal house, but the reason for her committing suicide was the demand of dowry for which there are allegations which gets substantiated by the fact that Panchayat was called for the said dispute and there are witnesses to substantiate it.
Looking to the facts and circumstances of the case, I do not find it a fit case for bail, hence, the bail application is rejected.
The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad.
The computer generated copy of such order shall be self attested by the counsel of the party concerned.
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 :- 7.10.2021 AS Rathore (Samit Gopal,J.)