Court No. - 54
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 10996 of 2018 Applicant :- Smt. Sarla Devi Opposite Party :- State Of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Ajay Kumar Dwivedi Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble J.J. Munir,J.
Sri Rajendra Kumar Srivastava, Advocate has put in appearance on behalf of the complainant. His appearance is taken on record.
This is an application for bail on behalf of Smt. Sarla Devi in connection with Case Crime No. 378 of 2017 under Sections 498A, 304B, 120-B IPC and Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, P.S. Eka, District Firozabad.
Heard Sri Ajay Kumar Dwivedi, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Rajendra Kumar Srivastava, learned counsel for the complainant and Sri Indrajeet Singh Yadav, learned AGA along with Sri Kulveer Singh, learned counsel on behalf of the State.
The submission of learned counsel for the applicant is that the applicant is the mother-in-law; that there are general allegations with no specific role being assigned to the applicant; that the applicant has been living separately of the deceased and her husband in another house as asserted in paragraph nos. 9 and 10 of the affidavit; that the deceased committed unabetted suicide on account of issues between the husband and the wife to which the applicant is neither a parity nor privy; that the cause of death is Asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem hanging which is compatible with a case of suicide; that the applicant is an old woman aged about 64 years as said in paragraph no. 18 of the affidavit; and, that the applicant is a respectable woman with no criminal history who is in jail since 01.02.2018.
Learned counsel for the complainant has vehemently opposed the bail plea with the submission that it is a case of an unnatural death of a wife within seven years of marriage in the four walls of her matrimonial home with a background of dowry demand. However, he further submits that the applicant who is the mother-in-law bears a higher responsibility being the senior most woman member in the family. As such, she is not entitled to bail.
Learned AGA has also opposed the prayer for bail adopting the submissions of of learned counsel for the complainant.
Considering the overall facts and circumstances, the nature of allegations, the gravity of offence, the severity of punishment, the evidence appearing in the case, the relationship of the applicant to the deceased, in particular the fact that the deceased and the applicant had been living separately in different premises and the applicant is an aged woman of 64 years but without expressing any opinion on merits, this Court finds it to be a fit case for bail.
Accordingly, the bail application stands allowed.
Let the applicant Smt. Sarla Devi involved in Case Crime No.
378 of 2017 under Sections 498A, 304B, 120-B IPC and Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, P.S. Eka, District Firozabad be released on bail on executing a personal bond and furnishing two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:
i) The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence.
ii) The applicant shall not threaten or harass the prosecution witnesses.
iii) The applicant shall appear on the date fixed by the trial court.
iv) The applicant shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which the applicant is accused, or suspected of the commission.
v) 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 such person from disclosing facts to the Court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
In case of default of any of the conditions enumerated above, the complainant would be free to move an application for cancellation of bail before this Court.
Order Date :- 27.3.2018 Deepak