The High Court granted bail to the appellant in a case involving offenses under the SC/ST Act and IPC. The court quashed the order rejecting his bail application, noting the lack of sufficient material and absence of criminal antecedents.
Appellant released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond and two local sureties; impugned order quashed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
Court No. - 77
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 1033 of 2021
Appellant :- Aashish Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Appellant :- Dheeraj Singh (Bohra) Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Pandey Balkrishna
Hon'ble Pankaj Bhatia,J.
Heard counsel for the appellant and despite notice and filed Vakalatnama no one appeared on behalf of opposite party no. 2. Sri Om Prakash Mishra, learned AGA, is present on behalf of State.
The present appeal under section 14-A(ii) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been filed challenging the order dated 09.02.2021 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, District Gautam Buddh Nagar in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 702 of 2021, arising out of Case Crime No. 752 of 2020 under sections 323, 504 and 304 IPC and section 3(2)(V) SC/ST Act, Police Station Phase-II, District Gautam Buddh Nagar whereby the bail application of the appellant has been rejected.
The contention of counsel for the appellant is that the appellant was not named in the FIR and the name of the appellant surfaced for the first time in the statement given by one Mukhbeer. He has also drawn my attention to the statement given wherein one Likhit, the co-accused stated that he was accompanied by the appellant and had gone there and on account of altercation that took place, the said Likhit co-accused hit the deceased
with a danda . No recovery has been shown against the appellant. On perusal of the case records, the only evidence against the appellant is the statement of the co-accused that also does not assign any specific role to the appellant. The appellant has no criminal antecedent and he is in custody since 21.12.2020.
Per contra, learned A.G.A. has opposed the bail prayer of the appellant by contending that there is no reason to falsely implicate the appellant, therefore, he does not deserve any benevolence. In case, the appellant is released on bail, he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail, therefore, the bail application is liable to be rejected.
Considering the fact that the appellant is in custody since 21.12.2020 and sufficient material is not existent on record. Coupled with the fact that the applicant has no criminal antecedent and there is nothing on record to demonstrate that if the applicant is enlarged on bail would affect the trial adversely, without expressing any opinion on merit of the case, the appellant is entitled to be enlarged on bail.
Let the appellant-Aashish involved in Case Crime No. 752 of 2020 under sections 323, 504 and 304 IPC and section 3(2)(V) SC/ST Act, Police Station Phase-II, District Gautam Buddh Nagar, be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two local sureties each of the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned, subject to the following conditions :-
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.
The criminal appeal is allowed and the order dated 09.02.2021 passed by Special Judge, SC/ST Act, District Gautam Buddh Nagar is hereby quashed. Order Date :- 8.6.2021 Puspendra
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the bail application of the appellant should be rejected or he should be released on bail when accused in a case under SC/ST Act and IPC.
Whether existing material is sufficient to justify denial of bail to the accused who has no criminal antecedent.
Whether the order rejecting the bail application should be quashed under Section 14-A(ii) of the SC/ST Act preventing delay in disposal of bail applications.
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Aashish
State of U.P.
Pankaj Bhatia
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
