This court granted bail to the applicant in a charge of acid attack under Section 326A IPC, applying the reformative theory of punishment and dicta from Dataram Singh v. State of U.P.
Applicant released on bail upon furnishing personal bond and two sureties with conditions regarding attendance and no tampering of evidence.
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Court No. - 75
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 9399 of 2020
Applicant :- Smt. Mahraj Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Sudhir Kumar Agarwal Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Vivek Kumar Singh,J.
Heard Sri Sudhir Kumar Agarwal, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Abhinav Prasad, learned AGA for the State and perused the record.
The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant with a prayer to release her on bail in Case Crime No. 410 of 2018, under Sections 326A IPC, Police Station Nai Mandi, District Muzaffar Nagar during pendency of trial.
The submission of learned counsel for the applicant is that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case with malafide intention just to harass the applicant. The applicant has not committed any offence. The injured Dilshad is hale and hearty person and there is no mark of injury caused by acid on his face, the said fact has been mentioned in para 15 to the affidavit filed in support of bail application. There is no independent witness to support the prosecution case. She has no criminal antecedents. Several other submissions in order to demonstrate the falsity of the allegations made against the applicant have also been placed forth before the Court. The circumstances which, according to the counsel, led to the false implication of the accused has also been touched upon at length. It has been assured on behalf of the applicant that she is ready to cooperate with the process of law and shall faithfully make herself available before the court whenever required. The applicant is a lady and languishing in jail since 13.05.2020. She undertakes that she will not misuse the liberty, if granted, therefore, she may be released on bail.
Learned counsel appearing for the opposite party vehemently opposed the prayer.
Having heard the submissions of learned counsel of both sides, nature of accusation and severity of punishment in case of conviction, nature of supporting evidence, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge, reformative theory of punishment and considering larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the dictum of Apex Court in the case of Dataram Singh v. State of U.P. and another, (2018) 3 SCC 22 and without expressing any view on the merits of the case, I find it to be a case of bail.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, let the applicant – Smt. Mahraj involved in the aforementioned crime be released on bail, on her furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the court concerned, with the following conditions:-
(1) The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating/ pressurizing the witnesses, or otherwise during the investigation or trial;
(2) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that she shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. She shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through her counsel. In case of her absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against her under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code;
(3) The applicant shall remain present, in person, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C.; and
(4) 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. is issued and the applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against her, in accordance with law under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code.
The identity, status and residential proof of sureties will be verified by the court concerned and in case of breach of any of the above conditions, the court below shall be at liberty to cancel the bail and send the applicant to prison.
It is clarified that the observations, if any, made in this order are strictly confined to the disposal of this bail application and must not be construed to have any reflection on the ultimate merits of the case.
The party is permitted to file a computer generated copy of this order downloaded from the official website of Allahabad High Court before the court concerned, who shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of Allahabad High Court and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
Order Date :- 22.9.2020 Arti
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the applicant can be released on bail in an accusation of acid attack involving severe punishment.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Dataram Singh v. State of U.P. and anotherApplied¶9
(2018) 3 SCC 22 · Who else cites this
5 provisions across 2 enactments
Smt. Mahraj
Vivek Kumar Singh
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
Vivek Kumar Singh
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