High Court
Case Details
Court No. - 79 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 42249 of 2021 Applicant :- Yogesh Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Bibhuti Narayan Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Vikas Budhwar,J. Order on impleadment application Crl. Misc. Impleadment Application No. 1 of 2022 Impleadment application is allowed. Order on Bail Application
Legal Reasoning
Heard Sri Bibhuti Narayan Singh, learned counsel for the applicant, and Sri A.K. Shukla, learned AGA for the State. Sri A.K. Shukla, learned AGA has placed before this court copy of the certificate dated 25.10.2021 as well as the document showing the service upon the informant about the filing and pendency of the present bail application. Till dictation of the present order, neither any counsel for the informant nor the informant is present thus the service upon the informant is deemed sufficient. This bail application purported to be under Section 439 of the Cr.P.C. has been moved for seeking bail in Case Crime No. 57 of 2019, under Sections 354, 354B, 504, 506 I.P.C. & section 8 of POCSO Act, 2012 registered at Police Station- Pahasu, District- Bulandshahar. The bail application of the applicant has been rejected by the court below, on 03.06.2019. The learned counsel for the applicant has argued that the FIR has been lodged by Smt. Maharani Devi before Police Station Pahasu, Bulandshahar being FIR No. 0057 of 2019 on 31.03.2019 at 17:22 hours in the above noted sections against the applicant with the allegation that on 31.03.2019 at about 3 hours the daughter of the complainant being victim who is aged about 11 years had gone to the field for answering the natural call and at that point of time the applicant tried to commit bad act with the victim while pushing her and thereafter, he made the victim naked and when the victim screamed then one Ramwati and Manveer and others have come on the spot and save the victim and the applicant while hurling abuses and threatening, ran away. He has drawn the attention of the court towards page no. 26 which happens to be the statement of the victim recorded u/s 161 Cr.P.C. wherein she has come up with the stand that she is studying in class 7th and she on the unfateful at 3 O' clock gone for answering the natures call along with another girl where the applicant came and the other girl ran way and she was made naked by the applicant and he attempted to commit bad act with her. He further drawn the attention of the court towards page no. 33 which happens to be the statement u/s 164 Cr.P.c. so as to contend that the victim has proclaimed that she is 12 years of age and on the unfateful day the applicant made her naked and thereafter tried to commit bad act pursuant to which she sustained minor marks in her body due to the exerting of the pressure by the applicant through his nails. He further argued that no bad act has been committed with the victim and the entire story so sought to be propounded by the prosecution is a bundle of lies is in the FIR there is no mention of the other girl accompanied with the victim however the same for the first time came in the statement u/s 161 Cr.P.C. however in the statement u/s 164 Cr.P.C. again there is no reference of the same. He further drawn the attention of the court towards paragraph no. 17 so as to contend that the applicant does not possess any criminal history and in order to buttress his submission he has drawn the attention of the court towards paragraph nos. 14 and 15 of the bail application and thus according to him the applicant is unnecessary languishing in jail since 02.04.2019. Countering the said submission learned AGA for the State has opposed the bail while arguing that the applicant has tried to outraged the modesty of the victim however her modesty was not outraged and further he could not dispute the fact that there are minor contradiction in the statements of the victim and FIR also and the applicant does not possess any criminal history. Considering the submission 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 the applicant does not possess any criminal history and he is languishing in jail since 02.04.2019 and the modesty of the girl was not outraged looking into the nature of the 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 applicant Yogesh 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 applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating/ pressurizing the witnesses, during the investigation or trial. (ii). The applicant shall cooperate in the trial sincerely without seeking any adjournment. (iii). The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail. (iv). 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 him from disclosing such facts to the Court to any police officer or tamper with the evidence. (v). In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail. (vi). Identity, status and residence proof of the applicant and sureties be verified by the court concerned before the bonds are accepted. Taking into consideration that Covid-19 is continuing and due to which certified copy would not be possible to be obtained by the applicant, therefore, if a copy of this order downloaded from the official website of Allahabad High Court and self attested by the counsel for the applicant is placed before the Court, the same would be entertained. Order Date :- 7.3.2022 Nisha Digitally signed by NISHA KUMARI Date: 2022.03.09 16:33:01 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad