Held bail application allowed for accused in murder/abetment to suicide case. Court relaxed conditions including personal bond and local sureties while directing trial court to expedite proceedings.
Bail allowed subject to personal bond and two local sureties; conditions imposed regarding attendance and absence.
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Court No. - 75
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 24939 of 2022
Applicant :- Raju @ Ajay Kumar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Ajay Dubey,Lavesh Sharma,Rajat Kumar Shukla,Ravindra Sharma,Shree Prakash Giri Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Kuldeep Singh Chahar
Hon'ble Mrs. Manju Rani Chauhan,J.
The case is taken up in the revised call.
Heard Mr. Pankaj Kumar Shukla, Mr. Lavesh Sharma, Mr. Rajat Kumar Shukla and Mr. Ajay Dubey, learned counsels for the applicant, Mr. Kuldeep Singh Chahar, learned counsel for the informant and Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Srivastava, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record.
The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant, Raju @ Ajay Kumar with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No.96 of 2022, under Sections 306 I.P.C., Police Station-Shamshabad, District-Agra, during pendency of trial.
As per prosecution version, the FIR has been lodged by son of the deceased on 25.04.2022 at 07:55 hours against two named accused including the applicant with the allegation that body of informant's father was found hanging in the fields of the applicant on 22.04.2022. A letter was also found in the pocket of deceased, wherein it was mentioned that the applicant and his son had taken Rs.12,50,000/- from the deceased and when demanded, the same was not returned, therefore, the deceased committed suicide by hanging himself.
Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submits that though the body of the deceased was found hanging on 22.04.2022 but the FIR has been lodged after the inquest and post-mortem, giving no reason for the same. From the statement of the informant as well as suicide note, it cannot be said that there is any abetment on part of the applicant, for provoking the deceased to commit suicide. He further submits that applicant is languishing in jail since 30.04.2022. The applicant has no criminal history. In case, he 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 fleeing away from judicial process or tampering with the witnesses.
Per contra learned A.G.A. has 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 deserves any indulgence. In case the applicant is released on bail he will again indulge in similar activities and will misuse the liberty of bail.
Keeping in view the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused, severity of punishment, submissions of the 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.
Let the applicant- Raju @ Ajay Kumar involved in aforesaid case crime 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:-
(i) The applicant shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.
(ii) The applicant shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel. In case of his absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against him under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iii) In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure his 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, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against him, in accordance with law, under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iv) 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. If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicant is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against him in accordance with law.
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.
However, it is expected that the trial court shall make all sincere endeavours to expedite the proceedings of the trial and conclude the same as expeditiously as possible. It goes without saying that if the prosecution witnesses are not turning up deliberately, then the court below has all the powers to adopt all the coercive measures provided under the Code in order to procure the presence of the witnesses.
Order Date :- 20.12.2022 Rahul.
Digitally signed by RAHUL GOSWAMI Date: 2022.12.22 12:19:39 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the applicant is entitled to bail in a case under Section 306 IPC during pendency of trial.
Whether the applicant has made out a prima facie case for bail considering the nature of the offence and evidence.
Raju @ Ajay Kumar
State of U.P.
Manju Rani Chauhan
As recorded by the court registry
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