Having considered the rival submissions made by learned counsel for both the parties and on perusal of the record, it is evident that applicant is not named in the first information report and his name has surfaced for the first time in the statement of victim recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. wherein it is alleged that on 27.9.2021 at about 2 p.m., she out of her own free-will, had gone to Kanpur and had married the applicant, however subsequently, in her statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C., she has resiled from earlier statement and has stated that on 27.9.2021 at about 2 p.m., she left her house alone and reached Hamirpur and from there by boarding a bus, reached Kanpur and thereafter again returned back to Hamirpur by boarding a bus and she does not know the applicant- Arvind nor had married him. Even in the statement of the victim recorded during the course of trial, she has not supported the prosecution story and has categorically stated that the applicant- Arvind had never met him and after returning from Kanpur, she came to know that her aunt has lodged a first information report. Since the victim has not corroborated the prosecution story, as such she has been declared hostile. During the course of trial, she has denied to have given any statement to the police shown to be recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. and has stated herself to be a major and has further stated that she had not gone with the applicant- Arvind. Furthermore, the applicant is in jail since 25.10.2021 and has no criminal history to his credit. The applicant has continuously been cooperating in the process of trial and there is no chance of applicant fleeing away from judicial process or tampering with the witnesses. In the backdrop of the aforesaid circumstances, I am of the view that prima facie applicant has made out a case for bail.
