High Court dismissed a third bail application as the trial is already in progress. The Court opined that passing orders on merits would prejudice the Trial Court and directed the trial to be disposed of within three months.
Application rejected; direction to Trial Court to dispose of trial within three months.
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Court No. - 66
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 42458 of 2022
Applicant :- Rahul Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Applicant :- Shyam Surat Shukla Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Rajiv Gupta,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant, learned AGA for the State and perused the record.
This is third bail application. The first being Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 33948 of 2018 and second being Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 14876 of 2021 were dismissed on merits by this Court vide orders dated 5.10.2020 and 5.8.2021 respectively.
This application has been filed seeking prayer for bail on behalf of applicant, involved, in Case Crime No. 174 of 2018, under Sections 328, 363, 376 IPC, P.S. Garhmukteshwar, DistrictHapur.
Learned counsel for the applicant has fairly submitted that the trial in the present is already in progress and as many as six prosecution witnesses have also been examined, who have corroborated the prosecution story. He has tried to refer to the prosecution evidence given during trial in order to show that the case for bail is made out. The period of detention of the applicant has also been pointed out.
Learned AGA for the State has vehemently opposed the prayer for bail of the applicant.
After considering the submissions made at bar by learned counsel for the applicant and perusing the record, this Court is of the view that when the trial is already in progress, it shall not be proper to give any finding or pass any order on the merits of the case on the basis of the statements given in the Court.
The trial is already in progress and the accused should get the final verdict with regard to his innocence and guilt from the Trial Court on the basis of appreciation of evidence produced during the course of trial. Analyzing the testimonies and worthiness of the witnesses and making the judicial assessment of the same can be more appropriately done by the Trial Court.
Any finding or order passed by this Court on the merits of the case after assessing the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses produced during the course of trial might seriously prejudice the independent assessment of the evidence by the trial court, therefore, this Court is of the opinion that any observation made by this Court may cause prejudice to either side.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I am not inclined to grant bail to the applicant at this stage. Accordingly, this bail application is rejected.
However, the Trial Court is expected to make all endeavours to dispose of the trial within a period of three months from the receipt of the certified copy of this order, without granting any unnecessary adjournment to either of the parties and there is no other legal impediment in concluding the trial.
With these observations, the application is disposed of.
Order Date :- 2.12.2022 KU
Digitally signed by KALIM UDDIN SIDDIQUI Date: 2022.12.02 16:33:44 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
2 issues framed by the court
Whether bail should be granted to the applicant when the trial is already in progress with six prosecution witnesses examined.
Whether the High Court should pass an order on merits instead of remanding the matter to the Trial Court for final disposal.
Rahul
Rajiv Gupta
Kalim Uddin Siddiqui
As recorded by the court registry
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