High Court
Case Details
Court No. - 79 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 1915 of 2022 Applicant :- Zuber And 2 Others Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Shiv Ram Dubey,Syed Safdar Ali Kazmi Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,B.S. Pandey,Kartikey Pandey Hon'ble Vikas Budhwar,J.
Legal Reasoning
Heard Sri Shiv Ram Dubey and Sri Syed Safdar Ali Kazmi, learned counsels for the applicants, Sri Shravan Kumar Ojha, learned AGA appearing for the State of U.P. as well as Sri Kartikey Pandey, learned counsel for the complainant. This bail application purported to be under Section 439 of the Cr.P.C. has been moved on behalf of applicants Zuber s/o Mustakeem, Mustafa s/o Saleem and Taiyab @ Guddu s/o Hakimullah for seeking bail in Case Crime No. 260 of 2021, under Sections 147, 148, 149, 325, 329, 323, 427, 504, 506 I.P.C. registered at Police Station-Walterganj, District-Basti. The bail application of the applicants have been rejected by the court below, on 04.01.2022. Learned counsel for the applicants has argued that a first information report has been lodged by one Mohd. Hanif s/o Abdul Zabbar before Police Station-Walterganj, District-Basti being FIR No. 0260 on 16.10.2021 at 00.24 hours under Sections 147, 148, 149, 308, 325, 329, 323, 427, 504, 506 I.P.C. relatable to the commission of the offence from 14.10.2021 to 15.10.2021 against the applicants herein who are three numbers with an allegation that on 12.10.2021, one Sri Akram s/o Zamil alongwith Pappu s/o Abdullah had come to the house of the informant on 12.10.2021 had proceeded to commit the act of slaughtering of cow and when the same was being resisted, then they started administering beating and also used unparliamentary language. It is also been alleged in the first information report that the said event also perpetuated on 14.10.2021 and ultimately on 15.10.2021 at about 06.30 in the evening, again the said incident was occurred. There was slaughtering of cow sought to be done and when the same was resisted, then the accused therein came up with the stand that on account of non-slaughtering of cow, it has virtually became impossible to sustain and thereafter the nominated accused who are 18 in numbers along with 40-50 unknown persons started administrating beating and resorted to violence pursuant whereto the informant not only sustained injuries in the head and in the entire body, but he also fell down in unconscious position and thereafter one Sri Mahfoos Alam s/o Abdul Zalil also sustained injuries in such a manner that three teeth got uprooted from the jaw and he sustained injuries in the lips and so far as Zabbar s/o Garibullah is concerned, he sustained injuries in legs and in his entire body so much so, Nazir s/o Mukhtar sustained injuries in the eyes also. Learned counsel for the applicants has drawn the attention of the Court towards the narration of the allegations contained in the first information report, so as to contend that only general role has been sought to be assigned and no specific role has been sought to be assigned. Learned counsel for the applicants has further drawn the attention of the Court towards the statement of the informant being Hanif which happens to be at Page 59 followed by the statement of the injured being Mahfoos Alam at Page 61, Abdul Zabbar s/o Karimullah at Page 62 and Nazir s/o Mukhtar Ahmad at Page 63 of the bail application, so as to contend that in the deposition under Section 161 Cr.P.C., only general allegations have been sought to be levelled. Learned counsel for the applicants has further drawn the attention of the Court towards the injury report, so as to contend that the injuries were more or less simple in nature and in order to butteress the said submission, learned counsel for the applicants has further drawn the attention of the Court towards the fact that the provisions contained under Sections 307 and 308 IPC has not been invoked in the present case. Learned counsel for the applicants has further drawn the attention of the Court towards the statement of the independent witnesses being Sri Vijay Kumar s/o Ayodhya Prasad at Page no. 66, Bechan s/o Sahdev at Page no. 68 and others, so as to contend that the story so sought to be set up by the prosecution is nowhere connected with the commission of the offence, as if, there was any dispute that was an election rivalry in that regard. Learned counsel for the applicants has further drawn the attention of the Court towards Paragraph no. 13, so as to contend that the applicants herein are poor labourers and they have no criminal history. A counter affidavit has also been filed by learned AGA, sworn by Subhash Maurya, aged about 48 years wherein Paragraph no. 13 has been admitted in such a manner that no criminal case is pending against the applicants. Learned counsel for the applicants has further argued that they are unnecessary languishing in jail since 02.12.2021 and one of the co-accused Mohammad Aslam has been enlarged on bail by Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order date 25.03.2022 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 5109 of 2022. Countering the said submissions learned AGA for the State has opposed the bail while arguing that the applicants have committed offence that is why they were pin pointedly marked in the first information report and further merely because no specific role has assigned and only general role has been assigned will not be a fact germane to enlarge them on bail particularly when they are assembled for the commission of the offence and thus the provisions contained under Section 147 IPC stands attracted. However, the learned AGA could not dispute the fact that there is no criminal history attributable to the applicants. Sri Kartikey Pandey, learned counsel for the complainant has adopted the arguments of the learned AGA, however, he has additionally argued that the applicants herein are habitual in commission of the offence relating to cow slaughtering, as according to the instructions, so received by him and various FIRs are also been lodged in that regard. According to Sri Kartikey Pandey, he has obtained instructions from his client and according to him in case, a specific rider is being affixed with the applicants that they shall appear on the first Monday of the month before the concerned Police Station, then the purpose will be suffice. Sri Shiv Ram Dubey and Sri Syed Safdar Ali Kazmi, learned counsels for the applicants have also made a statement at bar that they have possessed the instructions from their clients and their clients were willing, agreeable and undertakes to visit the concerned Police Station on the first Monday of the successive month. Considering the submissions so advanced by the learned counsel for the parties on the question of bail, prima facie this Court finds that this is a fit case for grant of bail, as first of all only general role has been assigned, the applicants do not possess any criminal history as per the instructions received by learned AGA and further looking into the fact that the co- accused Mohammad Aslam has been enlarged on bail, looking into the nature of acquisition, the evidence collected by the I.O, in support of the charge, gravity of offence, nature and severity of the punishment in the case of conviction, complicity of accused and all attending circumstances. Courts have taken notice of the overcrowding of jails during the current pandemic situation (Ref.: Suo Motu Writ Petition (c) No. 1/2020, Contagion of COVID 19 Virus in prisons before the Supreme Court of India). These circumstances shall also be factored in while considering bail applications on behalf of accused persons. In the light of the aforenoted discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed. Let the applicants Zuber, Mustafa and Taiyab @ Guddu involved in aforesaid crime be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions that :- i) The applicants shall visit the concerned Police Station on every first Monday of successive month before the concerned Police Station ii) The applicants shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating/ pressurizing the witnesses, during the investigation or trial. (iii) The applicants shall cooperate in the trial sincerely without seeking any adjournment. (iv) The applicants shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail. (v) The applicants 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 to any police officer or tamper with the evidence. (vi) Identity, status and residence proof of the applicants and sureties be verified by the court concerned before the bonds are accepted. In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail. Any observations made in granting bail to the applicants shall not in any way affect the learned Trial Judge in forming his independent opinion based on the testimony of the witnesses. Taking into consideration that Covid-19 is continuing and due to which certified copy would not be possible to be obtained by the applicants, therefore, if a copy of this order downloaded from the official website of Allahabad High Court and self attested by the counsel for the applicants is placed before the Court, the same would be entertained. Digitally signed by VIKRAM GUPTA Date: 2022.04.07 15:58:50 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad Order Date :- 31.3.2022 Vik/-