Allowed

Virendra and 2 Others v. State of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Sec. Home Lko.

Allahabad HC12 Jan 2024BAIL/404/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Bench allowed bail to Virendra and two co-accused in a case involving unlawful conversion of religion, noting their prior co-accused were on bail and they have no antecedents.

What did the court decide?

Accused released on bail furnishing a personal bond with two sureties subject to standard conditions.

What the court decided

Virendra and 2 Others vs State of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Sec. Home Lko. — Allahabad HC (2024) — LawSathi Research

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Court No. - 15

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Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 404 of 2024

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Applicant :- Virendra And 2 Others Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Sec. Home Lko. Counsel for Applicant :- Devashish Bhatt,Munish Kumar Chandra,Vivek Verma

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Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.

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Hon'ble Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan,J.

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Learned A.G.A. informs that he has procured complete instructions in the matter, including up-to date case diary, and charge-sheet in this case has been filed.

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Heard learned counsel for the accused-applicants as well as learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.

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This bail application has been moved by the accused/applicants- Virendra, Akhilesh and Pawan for grant of bail in Case Crime No.0467of 2023, under Sections 298 IPC read with Sections 3,5(1) U.P. Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act lodged at Police Station Lalganj, District Raebareli, during trial.

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Learned counsel for the accused-applicant, while pressing the bail application, submits that the applicant has been falsely implicated in this case and, he has not committed any offence, as claimed by the prosecution. It is further submitted that the allegation of conversion of religion by alluring son of the informant has been levelled against the named accused persons of the FIR and two unknown persons. Elaborating further, it is submitted that having regard to the allegations levelled in the FIR as well as in the statement of victim (Shanu) the religious ceremony for the purpose of conversion was being organized at the house of co-accused- Ramratan and material with regard to propagate the religion has also been recovered from the house of co-accused- Ramratan and Shanu has not identified the applicant as one of the person who was forcing him to convert/change his religion. Co-accused persons, whose role was even graver than the role of the instant applicant, namely, Lakshmi Shanker, Ramratan, Rajendra and Rahul have been granted bail by the coordinate Benches of this Court vide orders passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos. 14365 of 2023, 14081 of 2023 and 14084 of 2023 respectively, copies of which have been placed as Annexure Nos. 12, 13 and 14 to the bail

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application. It is further submitted that the applicant is languishing in jail in this case since 18.09.2023 and he is not having any previous criminal history. Charge sheet in this case has already been filed and there is no apprehension that after being released on bail he may flee from the course of law or may otherwise misuse the liberty.

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Learned A.G.A., however, opposes the prayer of bail of the applicant on the ground that having regard to the statement of Shanu, who was being forcibly converted to profess the christianity and the material which has been recovered from the place and also having regard to the heinousness of the offence, the applicant is not entitled to be released on bail.

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Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the record, it is reflected that allegations against the applicants are to the tune that at the relevant point of time the ceremony was going on in the house of co-accused- Ramratan where the son of the informant, namely, Shanu aged about 11 years was being converted and was lured to profess christianity. Certain material is also shown to have been recovered from the house of Ramratan, which, in the opinion of the learned A.G.A., was being used for lurement. Admittedly, identically placed coaccused- Lakshmi Shanker, Ramratan, Rajendra and Rahul have already been enlarged on bail by the coordinate Benches of this Court. The applicant is languishing in jail in this case since 18.09.2023 without any previous criminal antecedents. Charge sheet in this case has also been filed and the presence of the applicant may be secured before the trial court by placing adequate conditions.

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Keeping in view the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused, severity of punishment, submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I am of the considered view that applicants have made out a case for bail. The bail application is thus allowed .

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Let the accused/applicants- Virendra, Akhilesh and Pawan , involved in above-mentioned case, be released on bail on each of them furnishing a personal bond with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions:-

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(i) The applicants shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating/pressurizing the witnesses, during the investigation or trial.

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(ii) The applicants shall cooperate in the trial sincerely without

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seeking any adjournment.

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(iii) The applicants shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail.

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In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail of the applicants.

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Identity, status and residence proof of the applicants and sureties be verified by the Court concerned before the bonds are accepted.

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Observations made herein-above by this court are only for the purpose of disposal of this bail application and shall not be construed as an expression on the merits of the case.

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[Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan, J.]

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Order Date :- 17.1.2024 MVS/-

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Digitally signed by :- MANOJ VIKRAM SINGH CHAUHAN High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench

Virendra and 2 Others v. State of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Sec. Home Lko.

Case brief

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Virendra and 2 Others v. State of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Sec. Home Lko.

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