High Court
Case Details
Neutral Citation No. - 2024:AHC:165947 Court No. - 73 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 37421 of 2024 Applicant :- Kashiram Alias Ram Milan Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Santosh Kumar Shukla Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Mrs. Manju Rani Chauhan,J.
Legal Reasoning
5. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that co-accused, Shyam Narayan, has been granted bail by this Court in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 51408 of 2024 vide order dated 24.1.2024 and co-accused Gyan Devi @ Kiran and another has been granted bail by coordinate Bench of this Court in Crl. Misc. Bail Application No. 21839 of 2024 vide order dated 5.7.2024 and he further submits that the case of applicant is based on the similar footing to that of the aforesaid co-accused and he claims parity. 6. Per contra learned A.G.A. and learned counsel for the informant have vehemently opposed the bail prayer of the applicant by contending that the innocence of the applicant cannot be adjudged at pre-trial stage, therefore, he does not deserve any indulgence. The offence is cognizable and serious in nature and in case the applicant is released on bail he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail. 7. The well-known principle of "Presumption of Innocence Unless Proven Guilty," gives rise to the concept of bail as a rule and imprisonment as an exception. A person's right to life and liberty, guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, cannot be taken away simply because he or she is accused of committing an offence until the guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution states that no one's life or personal liberty may be taken away unless the procedure established by law is followed, and the procedure must be just and reasonable. The said principle has been reiterated by the Apex Court in Satyendra Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and another, 2022 (10) SCC 51. Learned AGA has not shown any exceptional circumstances which would warrant denial of bail to the applicant. 8. It is settled principle of law that the object of bail is to secure the attendance of the accused at the trial. No material particulars or circumstances suggestive of the applicant fleeing from justice or thwarting the course of justice or creating other troubles in the shape of repeating offences or intimidating witnesses and the like have been shown by learned AGA for the State. 9. The object of the bail is to secure the attendance of the accused, the detention of the accused pending trial cannot be punitive in nature as there is presumption of innocence in favour of the accused person. Learned A.G.A. has not brought any facts and circumstances to demonstrate that the character of the accused- applicant (s) is such that his mere presence at large would intimidate the witness. Learned AGA for the State has not brought any fact or circumstances to indicate criminal history or antecedents of the applicant which would disentitle the applicant for Bail. 10. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, nature of offence, evidence, complicity of the accused, the period of detention of the applicant for the alleged offence, submissions of learned counsel for the parties, the Court is of the view that the applicant has made out a case for bail. The bail application is allowed. 11. Let the applicant involved in the aforesaid case crime be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned, subject to the following conditions:- (i) The applicant will not tamper with the evidence during the trial. (ii) The applicant will not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witness. (iii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted and/or the applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by a police officer as and when required. (iv) The applicant shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which he is accused, or suspected, of the commission of which he is suspected. (v) 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 or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence. (vi) The applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the Court. (vii) In the event, the applicant changes residential address, the applicant shall inform the court concerned about new residential address in writing. 12. In case of breach of any of the above condition, the prosecution shall be at liberty to move bail cancellation application before this Court. 13. It is clarified that the observations, if any, made in this order are strictly confined to the disposal of the bail application and must not be construed to have any reflection on the ultimate merits of the case. Order Date :- 15.10.2024 Kumar Manish. Digitally signed by :- MANISH TRIPATHI High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
Arguments
1. Heard Sri Santosh Kumar Shukla, learned counsel for the applicant, Shri Triloki Singh, learned AGA for the State and perused the material on record. 2. The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant - Kashiram Alias Ram Milan with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 78 of 2020, under Sections 147, 323, 504, 506, 452, 427, 447, 308 IPC, Police Station-Handia, District- Prayagraj, during pendency of trial. 3. As per prosecution version on 28.01.2020 at about 01:00 p.m. the accused persons, five named and one unknown, in order to grab the house assaulted the informant and her sister-in-law (devrani) by lathi, danda and spade (fawda), due to which the informant Meera Devi and her sister-in-law Poonam Devi sustained injuries. As per X-ray report right side temporal bone of the informant is fractured. Thus, the first information report was lodged. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case as he did not commit the alleged offence. He further submits that there are general allegations of assaulting the informant as well as her sister-in-law. No specific role is assigned to the applicant which could have caused serious injury to the informant or her sister-in- law Poonam Devi. Learned counsel for the applicant contends that the incident occurred due to some family dispute between the informant and accused persons. He further contends that the applicant has no criminal history and he is languishing in jail since 22.08.2024 and in case, the applicant is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in the trial by all means. Lastly, it is submitted that there is no chance of applicant's fleeing away from judicial process or tampering with the witnesses.