High Court
Case Details
Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC:129677 Court No. - 79 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 27638 of 2023 Applicant :- Smt Aneesa @ Haneesa Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Madhava Nand Shukla Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Sameer Jain,J.
Legal Reasoning
1. Sri M. Faisal Khan, Advocate has filed his power on behalf of the informant today in the Court, which is taken on record. 2. Heard Sri Madhava Nand Shukla, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri M. Faisal Khan, learned counsel for the informant and Sri P.P. Pandey, learned AGA for the State. 3. The instant bail application has been filed seeking release of the applicant on bail in Case Crime No. 63 of 2023, under Sections 498A, 304B, 120B, 201 IPC and Section 3/4 D.P. Act, Police Station Khatauli, District Muzaffar Nagar during pendency of the trial. 4. FIR of the present case was lodged on 11.02.2023 and according to the FIR marriage of the son of applicant was performed with the sister of the informant on 15.06.2022 and after marriage applicant and her family members demanded Rs. 10 lakhs and Bolero car and for want of dowry they harassed the sister of the informant and on 03.02.2023 brother of the husband of the deceased i.e. elder son of the applicant informed the brother of the informant that his sister is serious and they are taking her to the medical college and when informant arrived at medical college then found that his sister had died and thereafter she was buried but when informant came to know that several injuries were on the body of the deceased then he lodged FIR of the present case. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that applicant is mother-in-law of the deceased and she is aged about 73 years and only being mother-in-law, she has been made accused in the present matter and actually applicant neither demanded any dowry nor she ever tortured the deceased for want of dowry. He further submits that even from the perusal of the FIR, it appears that when informant made complaint about the torture of his sister to the Jeth and husband of the deceased then they became highly annoyed and this fact clearly suggests that applicant was not having any role to play in the death of the deceased and it appears from the FIR that main allegation of torture was against the husband and Jeth of the deceased. He further submits that from the perusal of the medical report of the applicant and her Aadhar card, it appears that she is about 73 years old and both the documents have been annexed as Annexure-8 to the affidavit filed in support of present application. He next submits that considering the old age of the applicant and the fact that she is lady, she may be released on bail. 6. Per contra, learned AGA and learned counsel for the informant opposed the prayer for bail and submitted that post mortem report of the deceased suggests that she sustained several injuries on her body although during autopsy her cause of the death could not be ascertained and viscera was preserved but now viscera report is on record, which shows that deceased died due to the consumption of Aluminum Phosphate poison, therefore, it appears that forcibly Aluminum Phosphate poison was administered to her, therefore, being mother-in-law of the deceased applicant cannot be escaped but both the counsels could not dispute the fact that applicant is old and infirm lady aged about 73 years and no specific allegation has been made against her and on the basis of general allegation she has been made accused in the present matter. 7. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record of the case. 8. Although, daughter-in-law of the applicant died within seven years of her marriage under abnormal circumstances and there is also allegation of demand of dowry and initially without post mortem, deceased was cremated and when on the application of the informant her post mortem was conducted then it was found that deceased sustained several injuries on her body and during autopsy her cause of death could not be ascertained and viscera was preserved, now viscera report is on record and from its perusal it appears that she died due to consumption of Aluminum Phosphate poison but applicant is mother-in-law of the deceased and no specific allegation has been made against her and from Annexure-8 of the affidavit it appears that she is about 73 years old, therefore, considering the age of the applicant, in my view, applicant, who is mother-in-law of the deceased is entitled to be released on bail. 9. Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the instant bail application is allowed. 10. Let the applicant - Smt Aneesa @ Haneesa be released on bail in the aforesaid case on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:- (i) The applicant shall appear before the trial court on the dates fixed, unless his personal presence is exempted. (ii) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make 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 or any police officer or tamper with the evidence. (iii) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal and anti-social activity. 11. In case of breach of any of the above condition, the prosecution will be at liberty to move an application before this Court for cancellation of the bail of the applicant. 12. It is clarified that the observations made herein are limited to the facts brought in by the parties pertaining to the disposal of bail application and the said observations shall have no bearing on the merits of the case during trial. Order Date :- 30.6.2023 AK Pandey Digitally signed by :- ANUPAM KUMAR PANDEY High Court of Judicature at Allahabad