State Of U.P. Thru. Secy. Home Lko. And Another vs Counsel for Appellant(s)

HON'BLE PRAMOD KUMAR SRIVASTAVA, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the appellant and learned AGA for the State as well as perused the record.

2. Learned counsel for the appellant has filed rejoinder affidavit today in Court, the same is taken on record.

3. Sri Pankaj Kumar, learned counsel for the opposite party No.2 has already filed his Vakalatnama on behalf of opposite party No. 2, but till date he has not filed counter affidavit on her behalf, it appears that he is not interested to file any counter affidavit.

4. In the above circumstances, as the matter pertains to bail this Court has no option but to proceed for final arguments to decide the present appeal.

5. By means of instant appeal under Section 14-A (2) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 1989 the appellant has challenged the impugned order dated 02.01.2025 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Sitapur in Bail Application No. 872 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No. 425 of 2024 under Section 103 BNS & under Section 3(2)5 of SC/ST Act, P.S.-Mahmoodabad, District-Sitapur.

6. Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that before the trial Court the statement of the main witnesses of fact i.e. informant has already been recorded and as such, there is no chance of influencing the witness of the fact by the appellant. 2 CRLA No. 534 of 2025

7. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that as per story of prosecution, the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda by the appellant and by one Shobharam, who is real brother of the appellant, in the house/premise belonging to the accused persons and such there is no eye- witness to the prosecution story and therefore the fact as to whether the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda is the subject matter to be adjudicated by the trial Court after taking note of evidence adduced by the parties before it and in fact the appellant has not assaulted the deceased with any weapon what to say about lathi.

8. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the body of the deceased was not found from the house/premise of accused persons and the same was found from the place near to the Panchayat Bhawan. In the aforesaid background of the case, present bail appeal may be allowed and appellant may be enlarged on bail.

9. Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that general allegations have been levelled against the co-accused including the present appellant. And on the similar allegations, co-accused Shobharam has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 08.09 .2025 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 576 of 2025. He also submits that since similar role has been assigned to the appellant, the case of appellant is not on the worse footing than that of the aforesaid co-accused, and case of the appellant is in parity with him, therefore, the appellant is also entitled for bail.

10. Learned counsel for the appellant further submits that the appellant is languishing in jail since 09.10.2024 and the criminal history of the appellant has been explained in paragraph 3 of the supplementary affidavit. He added that in case the appellant is enlarged on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail and he shall fully cooperate with the trial. He has further submitted that there is no possibility of the appellants to intimidate or pressurize the witnesses or any other persons acquainted with the facts of the present case.

11. For the aforesaid reasons, learned counsel for the appellant submits that the instant criminal appeal deserves to be allowed and the order dated

02.01.2025 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Sitapur in Bail 3 CRLA No. 534 of 2025 Application No. 872 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No. 425 of 2024 under Section 103 BNS & under Section 3(2)5 of SC/ST Act, P.S.- Mahmoodabad, District-Sitapur deserves to be set aside and consequently, the appellant deserves to be enlarged on bail during pendency of the trial.

12. Per contra, learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the prayer by submitting that there is active participation of accused/appellant in the crime. Therefore, the accused/ appellant is not entitled to be enlarged on bail and the instant criminal appeal deserves to be dismissed. However, he has been unable to dispute the other factual submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the accused/appellant.

13. Upon consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and material available on record, submissions of counsel for the appellant, learned A.G.A. and considering the facts and circumstance of the case and the fact that the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda by the appellant and by one Shobharam, who is real brother of the appellant, in the house/premise belonging to the accused persons and such there is no eye- witness to the prosecution story and therefore the fact as to whether the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda is the subject matter to be adjudicated by the trial Court after taking note of evidence adduced by the parties before it and in fact the appellant has not assaulted the deceased with any weapon what to say about lathi; the co-accused has already been granted bail by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court as well as the fact that the appellant is in jail since 09.10.2024 and chances of conviction of the appellant in the instant case, without expressing any opinion on merit, this Court of the view that the learned court below has failed to appreciate the material available on record. The order passed by the court below is liable to be set aside.

14. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. Consequently, the impugned order dated 02.01.2025 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Sitapur in Bail Application No. 872 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No. 425 of 2024 under Section 103 BNS & under Section 3(2)5 of SC/ST Act, P.S.- Mahmoodabad, District-Sitapur is hereby set aside.

15. Let the appellant- Chaman Singh be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on his furnishing personal bond and two reliable 4 CRLA No. 534 of 2025 sureties relating to his family members to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following additional conditions- (1) The appellant shall cooperate with the prosecution during trial. (ii) The appellant shall not tamper with the evidence during trial (iii) The appellant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witness(s). (iv) The appellant shall not commit an offence. (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. (vi) The appellant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through counsel. (vii) The appellant shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. (viii) The appellant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.PC.

16. In case of default of above conditions, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.

17. As this order relates to enlargement of the appellant on bail, it is clarified that observation(s) made in this order shall have no bearing on the merits of the case and the trial court shall not be influenced by any observation(s) made in this order. October 30, 2025 Arvind (Pramod Kumar Srivastava,J.) ARVIND KUMAR SRIVASTAVA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench

HON'BLE PRAMOD KUMAR SRIVASTAVA, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the appellant and learned AGA for the State as well as perused the record.

2. Learned counsel for the appellant has filed rejoinder affidavit today in Court, the same is taken on record.

3. Sri Pankaj Kumar, learned counsel for the opposite party No.2 has already filed his Vakalatnama on behalf of opposite party No. 2, but till date he has not filed counter affidavit on her behalf, it appears that he is not interested to file any counter affidavit.

4. In the above circumstances, as the matter pertains to bail this Court has no option but to proceed for final arguments to decide the present appeal.

5. By means of instant appeal under Section 14-A (2) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 1989 the appellant has challenged the impugned order dated 02.01.2025 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Sitapur in Bail Application No. 872 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No. 425 of 2024 under Section 103 BNS & under Section 3(2)5 of SC/ST Act, P.S.-Mahmoodabad, District-Sitapur.

6. Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that before the trial Court the statement of the main witnesses of fact i.e. informant has already been recorded and as such, there is no chance of influencing the witness of the fact by the appellant. 2 CRLA No. 534 of 2025

7. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that as per story of prosecution, the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda by the appellant and by one Shobharam, who is real brother of the appellant, in the house/premise belonging to the accused persons and such there is no eye- witness to the prosecution story and therefore the fact as to whether the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda is the subject matter to be adjudicated by the trial Court after taking note of evidence adduced by the parties before it and in fact the appellant has not assaulted the deceased with any weapon what to say about lathi.

8. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the body of the deceased was not found from the house/premise of accused persons and the same was found from the place near to the Panchayat Bhawan. In the aforesaid background of the case, present bail appeal may be allowed and appellant may be enlarged on bail.

9. Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that general allegations have been levelled against the co-accused including the present appellant. And on the similar allegations, co-accused Shobharam has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 08.09 .2025 passed in Criminal Appeal No. 576 of 2025. He also submits that since similar role has been assigned to the appellant, the case of appellant is not on the worse footing than that of the aforesaid co-accused, and case of the appellant is in parity with him, therefore, the appellant is also entitled for bail.

10. Learned counsel for the appellant further submits that the appellant is languishing in jail since 09.10.2024 and the criminal history of the appellant has been explained in paragraph 3 of the supplementary affidavit. He added that in case the appellant is enlarged on bail, he shall not misuse the liberty of bail and he shall fully cooperate with the trial. He has further submitted that there is no possibility of the appellants to intimidate or pressurize the witnesses or any other persons acquainted with the facts of the present case.

11. For the aforesaid reasons, learned counsel for the appellant submits that the instant criminal appeal deserves to be allowed and the order dated

02.01.2025 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Sitapur in Bail 3 CRLA No. 534 of 2025 Application No. 872 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No. 425 of 2024 under Section 103 BNS & under Section 3(2)5 of SC/ST Act, P.S.- Mahmoodabad, District-Sitapur deserves to be set aside and consequently, the appellant deserves to be enlarged on bail during pendency of the trial.

12. Per contra, learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the prayer by submitting that there is active participation of accused/appellant in the crime. Therefore, the accused/ appellant is not entitled to be enlarged on bail and the instant criminal appeal deserves to be dismissed. However, he has been unable to dispute the other factual submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the accused/appellant.

13. Upon consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and material available on record, submissions of counsel for the appellant, learned A.G.A. and considering the facts and circumstance of the case and the fact that the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda by the appellant and by one Shobharam, who is real brother of the appellant, in the house/premise belonging to the accused persons and such there is no eye- witness to the prosecution story and therefore the fact as to whether the deceased was assaulted with lathi-danda is the subject matter to be adjudicated by the trial Court after taking note of evidence adduced by the parties before it and in fact the appellant has not assaulted the deceased with any weapon what to say about lathi; the co-accused has already been granted bail by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court as well as the fact that the appellant is in jail since 09.10.2024 and chances of conviction of the appellant in the instant case, without expressing any opinion on merit, this Court of the view that the learned court below has failed to appreciate the material available on record. The order passed by the court below is liable to be set aside.

14. Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. Consequently, the impugned order dated 02.01.2025 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Sitapur in Bail Application No. 872 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No. 425 of 2024 under Section 103 BNS & under Section 3(2)5 of SC/ST Act, P.S.- Mahmoodabad, District-Sitapur is hereby set aside.

15. Let the appellant- Chaman Singh be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on his furnishing personal bond and two reliable 4 CRLA No. 534 of 2025 sureties relating to his family members to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following additional conditions- (1) The appellant shall cooperate with the prosecution during trial. (ii) The appellant shall not tamper with the evidence during trial (iii) The appellant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witness(s). (iv) The appellant shall not commit an offence. (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. (vi) The appellant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through counsel. (vii) The appellant shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. (viii) The appellant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.PC.

16. In case of default of above conditions, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.

17. As this order relates to enlargement of the appellant on bail, it is clarified that observation(s) made in this order shall have no bearing on the merits of the case and the trial court shall not be influenced by any observation(s) made in this order. October 30, 2025 Arvind (Pramod Kumar Srivastava,J.) ARVIND KUMAR SRIVASTAVA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench