High Court
Case Details
Court No. - 86 Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 505 of 2024 Appellant :- Suresh Kumar Respondent :- State of U.P. Counsel for Appellant :- Raj Kumar Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Legal Reasoning
Hon'ble Nalin Kumar Srivastava,J. Order on Criminal Misc. Bail Application / Suspension of Sentence Application 1. Heard Sri Raj Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the appellant- applicant, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record. 2. This bail application / suspension of sentence application has been moved on behalf of the appellant-applicant Suresh Kumar, who has been convicted and sentenced vide judgment and order dated 19.12.2023 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Court No.1, Auraiya in Session Trial No.205 of 2018 (State Vs. Suresh Kumar) arising out of case crime no.443 of 2018 under Sections 323, 504, 304 IPC, Police Station Ajeetmal, District Auraiya. 3. By means of this bail application, the appellant-applicant seeks suspension of sentence / grant of bail. 4. The trial court recorded the conviction of the appellant under Sections 304, 323 IPC and he was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment under section 304 IPC with fine of Rs.10,000/- alongwith default sentence and 3 months simple imprisonment under section 323 IPC with fine of Rs.1000/- alongwith default stipulation. 5. Prosecution story, in brief, is that on 4.6.2018 at about 10:00 P.M., a quarrel took place between the son of the informant namely, Aditya and Suresh Kumar, the present appellant and accused Daulat Singh, Shakkarwati, Poonam Devi and Ruby also came on spot and started hurling abuses. When Aditya, the son of the informant, objected to that, he was badly beaten by the accused persons as a result of which he fell down on road and died after sometime. F.I.R. was lodged and after initiation of prosecution, the present accused appellant was convicted and sentenced by the trial court as mentioned hereinabove. 6. It has been submitted by learned counsel for the appellant- applicant that the appellant is innocent and has falsely been implicated. It has been further submitted that the conviction and sentence imposed by the learned trial Judge is against the weight of evidence on record. The trial court has misread the evidence on record and convicted the appellant / applicant. The prosecution has not been able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The impugned judgement and order passed by the learned trial court is illegal, arbitrary and unsustainable in the eyes of law. It is also submitted that on the same set of evidence, the other co-accused Daulat Singh was exonerated by the I.O. of this case whereas co- accused Daulat Singh was also assigned a specific role of making assault with the aid of lathi upon the head of the deceased. It is also submitted that interestingly, no application under section 319 Cr.P.C. was moved by the prosecution to summon the co-accused Daulat Singh to face trial in the case which shows the bad motive of the prosecution to falsely implicate the appellant in this matter and to keep him in jail for an uncertain period of time. It is also submitted that the medical evidence does not corroborate the prosecution version. The prosecution case is also not supported by any cogent evidence rendered by any independent witness. It is also submitted that the present appellant had no intention or knowledge at all that the injuries sustained by the injured would be proved fatal for him and are capable of taking life of the injured. It is also submitted that the appellant is having no criminal history to his credit and he has been languishing in jail since 19.12.2023 in this matter. It is further submitted that since there is no likelihood of early hearing of the appeal in near future, the appellant- applicant may be released on bail pending appeal. Besides the above submissions, learned counsel for the appellant-applicant has also tried to touch upon at length the circumstances which led to the false implication of appellant. 7. On the other hand, learned A.G.A. opposed the prayer for bail and it has been vehemently argued that specific role of assault has been assigned to present appellant and the witnesses have affirmed the factum of injuries caused by the appellant with the aid of lathi. It is also submitted that since no evidence was collected by the I.O. against co-accused Daulat Singh, his name was exonerated during investigation. It is also submitted that the offence committed by the appellant is very serious and grave and he has committed culpable homicide not amounting to murder of a young boy of 23 - 24 years of age and hence he is not entitled to be released on bail. 8. I have considered the rival submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the entire record including the impugned judgment. 9. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, sentence awarded to the appellant, the evidence available on record and the findings recorded by the trial court thereon and also keeping in view the fact that a specific role of assault has been assigned by the witnesses of this case to the present appellant alongwith co-accused Daulat Singh as well, but the said Daulat Singh was exonerated by the I.O., the fact that no criminal history has been brought to the notice of the Court and the fact that the appeal may take some time for its final disposal, without further commenting on the merits of the case, I am inclined to release the appellant-applicant on bail. 10. Let the appellant-applicant - Suresh Kumar be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of Court concerned. 11. On acceptance of bail bond and personal bonds, the lower court shall transmit photostat copies thereof to this Court for being kept on record. 12. The entire fine amount, as imposed by the trial Court, shall be deposited by the appellant-applicant within a period of one month from the date of his release. Order on Appeal 1. Trial court record has been received. 2. Office is directed to prepare the paper book. 3. List this Appeal in due course. Order Date :- 17.9.2024 ss