High Court
Case Details
Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:24925 Court No. - 82 Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 12549 of 2024 Appellant :- Devendra Raja Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Appellant :- Aftab Alam Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Legal Reasoning
Hon'ble Nalin Kumar Srivastava,J. 1. Despite service of notice, none appears on behalf of the opposite party no.2. 2. Supplementary affidavit and second supplementary affidavit filed in the matter are taken on record. 3. This criminal appeal under Section 14-A (2) Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been preferred by the appellant - Devendra Raja with the prayer to allow the appeal, set aside the bail rejection order dated 27.11.2024 passed by the Special Judge (SC/ST Act) / Addl. District & Session Judge, Lalitpur and release the appellant on bail in Case Crime No.221 of 2024 under Sections 64, 61(2)(A), 351(2), 127(2), 333 B.N.S. and Section 3(2)(5) S.C./S.T. Act, Police Station Banpur, District Lalitpur. 4. Heard learned counsel for the appellant, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the entire record. 5. In the nutshell, the prosecution story is that on 15.8.2024 at about 11:00 A.M., when the informant / victim was going to her house, co-accused Parwati called her into her house and when she went there, the present accused appellant was already present there, who with the aid of Smt. Parwati, disrobed the victim and also procured some photographs by Smt. Parwati and rape was committed to her by the present accused appellant. She was further threatened for dire consequences. Later on she told her mother about the incident on 27.8.2024 and then F.I.R. of this case was lodged. The victim was medically examined and charge-sheet was submitted. 6. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the appellant that the appellant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case. He has not committed the present offence. Alleged offences are not attracted against him. The prosecution story is totally false and fabricated. It is also submitted that the essential ingredients to constitute the offence under the SC/ST Act are missing in this case. It is also submitted that at the very outset, the prosecution has put forward a confused story. There are different dates of occurrence. At the first place in the F.I.R., the offence is said to be committed on 15.8.2024 and F.I.R. was lodged on 28.8.2024 but however in the statement of the victim recorded under sections 180 and 183 B.N.S.S., the informant / victim has stated that offence was committed with her 2 days after the festival of Rakshabandhan. It is also submitted that according to that statement, the incident occurred on 21.8.2024 and since the date of occurrence is not confirmed, it is a serious dent on the prosecution story. It is also submitted that the F.I.R. in this case has been lodged very belatedly without any plausible explanation. It is also submitted that the medical examination report of the victim does not corroborate the prosecution version. It is further submitted that the co-accused Smt. Parwati has been granted bail by the coordinate Bench of this Court in Crl. Misc. Bail Application No.42093 of 2024 vide order dated 13.2.2025. It is also submitted that the applicant has criminal history of solitary case and that has been explained. It is also submitted that the appellant is languishing in jail since 30.8.2024. It is further submitted that the bail application of the appellant has been rejected in an illegal manner by the Special Judge (S.C./S.T. Act), Gorakhpur. It is further submitted that the Court concerned while passing the impugned order did not take into account the facts and evidence available on record in right perspective and erred in passing the same. It is lastly submitted that the impugned order rejecting the bail application of the appellant suffers from infirmity and illegality warranting interference by this Court. 7. On the other hand, learned A.G.A. opposed the appeal but however could not dispute the factual scenario of this matter in respect of the date of occurrence. 8. I have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the entire record including the impugned order carefully. 9. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and keeping in view the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused, severity of punishment, the Court is of the opinion that the appellant has made out a case for bail. The Court concerned erred in rejecting the bail application of the appellant. The impugned order suffers from infirmity and illegality and the same is liable to be set-aside and the appeal is liable to be allowed. 10. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed and the impugned order rejecting the bail application of the appellant is set-aside. 11. Let the appellant Devendra Raja involved in Case Crime No.221 of 2024 under Sections 64, 61(2)(A), 351(2), 127(2), 333 B.N.S. and Section 3(2)(5) S.C./S.T. Act, Police Station Banpur, District Lalitpur be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions. Further, before issuing the release order, the sureties be verified. (i) The appellant will not tamper with the evidence during the trial. (ii) The appellant will not pressurize/ intimidate the prosecution witness. (iii) The appellant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted. (iv) The appellant 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 appellant 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. 12. In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to move bail cancellation application before this Court. Order Date :- 20.2.2025 ss Digitally signed by :- SANDEEP SHARMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad