High Court
Case Details
Court No. - 71 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 53272 of 2021 Applicant :- Kajal Agrahari Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Vivek Prasad Mathur Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Samit Gopal,J.
Legal Reasoning
Heard Sri Vivek Prasad Mathur, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Sanjay Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the State and perused the material on record. This bail application under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure has been filed by the applicant-Kajal Agrahari seeking enlargement on bail during trial in connection with Case Crime No.228 of 2021 I.P.C., under Sections 306 IPC, registered at Police Station Siddharthnagar, district Siddharthnagar. The FIR of the present case was lodged on 24.9.2021 by Vivek Kumar Jaiswal, the elder brother of the deceased Ashish Jaiswal under Section 302, 201 IPC naming the applicant and three other persons as accused and alleging that on 21.9.2021 his younger brother who is the deceased, went from the house at 7 p.m. stating that the applicant has called him and he is going to the house of Ashok Agrahari who is the co-accused and father of the applicant. On reaching there, father of the applicant Ashok told the deceased that he would get his daughter Kajal married with him if he gets the settled marriage broken. He is not traceable since then. His mobile phone is switched off. On query from the house of Ashok Agrahari, it was informed that he left the house one hour before but since he used to talk to the applicant on phone, there is suspicion that the accused persons may have somewhere hidden his brother. On 23.9.2021 he received a call from the police station that a dead-body has been recovered and he may come and identify it on which he went and identified the same as that of his brother Ashish Jaiswal. Learned counsel for the applicant argued that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is further argued that during the investigation, the case was converted from Section 302, 201 IPC to a case under Section 306 IPC. The deceased has committed suicide and died. He even left a suicide note which was recovered by the police. Since the deceased wanted to marry the applicant and there was some suspicion in his mind that he might not get married because of the conditional acceptance of the family members about the relationship, hence he committed suicide. As per postmortem report, the deceased was not found to have received any bodily injury. The cause of death could not be ascertained and viscera was preserved, report of which is still awaited. Learned counsel for the applicant argued that there is no abetment and instigation of any kind by the applicant which has any nexus with the death of the deceased, the applicant has no mens-rea at all, there is no overt act whatsoever of the applicant, which resulted in the death of the deceased. The applicant has no motive at all to commit the aforesaid offence. The applicant is a lady and is entitled to get benefit of Section 437 Cr.P.C. It has also been pointed out that the applicant is not having any criminal history as stated in para 3 the affidavit. The applicant is in jail since 27.09.2021. Per contra learned counsel for the State opposed the prayer for bail, but could not dispute the aforesaid fact as argued by learned counsel for the applicant. After hearing the counsel for the parties and perusing the record, it is apparent that the applicant is a lady. The deceased wanted to marry the applicant and there was some hesitation from the side of the family members of the applicant with regards to marriage as they had a condition for it. There is a suicide note also. There is no abetment and instigation of any kind by the applicant which has any nexus with the death of the deceased, the applicant has no mens-rea at all, there is no overt act whatsoever of the applicant, which resulted in the death of the deceased. The applicant has no motive at all to commit the aforesaid offence. Looking to the facts and circumstances of this case, the nature of evidence and also the absence of any convincing material to indicate the possibility of tampering with the evidence, this Court is of the view that the applicant may be enlarged on bail. Let the applicant-Kajal Agrahari, be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions which are being imposed in the interest of justice:- i) The applicant will not tamper with prosecution evidence and will not harm or harass the victim/complainant in any manner whatsoever. ii) The applicant will abide the orders of court, will attend the court on every date and will not delay the disposal of trial in any manner whatsoever. (iii) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that she shall not seek any adjournment on the date fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law. (iv) The applicant will not misuse the liberty of bail in any manner whatsoever. In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure her presence proclamation under section 82 Cr.P.C., may be issued and if applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against her, in accordance with law, under section 174-A I.P.C. (v) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on dates fixed for (1) opening of the case, (2) framing of charge and (3) recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against her in accordance with law and the trial court may proceed against her under Section 229-A IPC. (vi) The trial court may make all possible efforts/endeavour and try to conclude the trial expeditiously after the release of the applicant. The identity, status and residential proof of sureties will be verified by court concerned and in case of breach of any of the conditions mentioned above, court concerned will be at liberty to cancel the bail and send the applicant to prison. The bail application is allowed. (Samit Gopal, J.) Order Date :- 17.2.2022 Gaurav Digitally signed by GAURAV KULSHRESTHA Date: 2022.02.18 13:36:44 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad