Court No. - 65
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 23162 of 2019 Applicant :- Sangeet Singh Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Kuldeep Johri Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Karuna Nand Bajpayee,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned A.G.A. Perused the record.
Submission of the counsel is that according to the medical examination the age of the victim was found to be of about 16 years and actually she was much above that age and had already attained majority. Further submission is that actually applicant was having an affair with the victim and she had gone on her own volition willfully along with the applicant and they remained for more than 10 days together. There was absolutely no semblance of protest raised by the victim during this course. The incident is said to have taken place on 24.7.2017 while the victim was apprehended on 5.8.2017. Emphasis was laid by the counsel on the statement of the victim recorded immediately after she was apprehended. According to this statement recorded under section 161 Cr.P.C., she was in love with the applicant and this relationship had been going on for about two years. She admitted to have left her house on her own volition willfully. She also admitted to have traveled wide across the State to different places. She also admitted to have contracted marriage with the applicant willfully. According to this statement, she was badly disgruntled with the life she was leading in her parents house and she expressed her disinclination to go along with her parents. Submission is that though subsequently when her statement was recorded by the Magistrate a lot of improvisation was made. Not only a number of accused were added by the victim but allegation of committing rape were also made against the applicant. It was also pointed out that out of total number of accused nominated by the victim before the Magistrate all of them have been exonerated by the police and the charge-sheet has been submitted only against the applicant for the simple reason that parents of the victim girl did not agree with the relationship which she was having with the applicant. Submission is that in this view of the matter, specially keeping in view the perspective of the statement of the victim recorded under section 161 Cr.P.C. at least a prima facie case for bail is made out. Several other submissions in order to demonstrate the falsity of the allegations made against the applicant have also been placed forth before the Court. The circumstances which, according to the counsel, led to the false implication of the accused have also been touched upon at length. It has been assured on behalf of the applicant that he is ready to cooperate with the process of law and shall faithfully make himself available before the court whenever required and is also ready to accept all the conditions which the Court may deem fit to impose upon him. It has also been submitted that the applicant is in jail since 04.08.2018 and in the wake of heavy pendency of cases in the Court, there is no likelihood of any early conclusion of trial.
Learned A.G.A. has opposed the prayer for bail.
After perusing the record in the light of the submissions made at the bar and after taking an overall view of all the facts and circumstances of this case, the nature of evidence, the period of detention already undergone, the unlikelihood of early conclusion of trial and also the absence of any convincing material to indicate the possibility of tampering with the evidence, this Court is of the view that the applicant may be enlarged on bail.
Let the applicant- Sangeet Singh, involved in Case Crime No.897 of 2017, u/s 363, 366, 376D, 328 I.P.C. and Section- 5G/6 POCSO Act, P.S.- Madnapur, District- Shahjahanpur, be released on bail on his executing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned on the following conditions :-
(1) The applicant will not make any attempt to tamper with the prosecution evidence in any manner whatsoever.
(2) The applicant will personally appear on each and every date in the court and his personal presence shall not be exempted unless the court itself deems it fit to do so in the interest of justice.
It may be observed that in the event of any breach of the aforesaid conditions, the court below shall be at liberty to proceed for the cancellation of applicant's bail.
It is clarified that the observations, if any, made in this order are strictly confined to the disposal of the bail application and must not be construed to have any reflection on the ultimate merits of the case.
Order Date :- 3.6.2019 shiv