Arati Verma vs State of U.P.

Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:12865

Court No. - 5

Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 1421 of 2025 Applicant :- Arati Verma Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Kumar Ashutosh Srivastava,Nagendra Bahadur Singh

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Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.

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Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J.

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Matter is taken up in the revised call.

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By means of the bail application the applicant has prayed to be enlarged on bail in Case Crime No. 213 of 2023 at Police Station-Fatehganj East, District-Bareilly under Sections 302, 34, 120B, I.P.C. The applicant is in jail since 24.09.2023.

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The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the learned trial court on 21.12.2024.

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The following arguments made by Shri Nagendra Bahadur Singh, learned counsel for the applicant and Shri Chandan Agrawal, learned AGA-I from the record, entitle the applicant for grant of bail:

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The prosecution case set out in the F.I.R. is that the deceased failed to turn up at his house after the evening of 20.09.2023. The family went out in search for him but to no avail. The incident occurred on 20.09.2023 between 6 to 10 p.m. The body of the deceased was found near a railway track on 21.09.2023. The body of the deceased was identified by the first informant (father of the deceased) on 21.09.2023.

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The F.I.R. was lodged on 23.09.2023 at about 13.41 hours by the father of the deceased.

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The delay in lodgement of the F.I.R. in the facts of this case is fatal to the prosecution case.

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The F.I.R. was lodged after due deliberations and at the instigation of parties inimical to the applicant.

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The applicant had no motive to murder the deceased.

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The applicant is the wife of deceased.

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The deceased was depressed on account of misunderstanding between the couple. On the fateful day the deceased took the extreme step of his life by jumping in front of a running train and was crushed.

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The applicant has been nominated only oust her claim from the ancestral property of the deceased.

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The applicant claims congruency in role and seeks parity in relief granted to the co-accused- Manvendra who has been enlarged on bail by this Court by order dated 02.09.2024 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 13720 of 2024.

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The applicant does not have any criminal history apart from this case.

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The applicant is not a flight risk. The applicant being a law abiding citizen has always cooperated with the investigation and undertakes to join the trial proceedings. There is no possibility of her influencing witnesses, tampering with the evidence or reoffending.

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In the light of the preceding discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed.

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Let the applicant- Arati Verma be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number, on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court below. The following conditions be imposed in the interest of justice:-

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(i) The applicant will not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness during the trial.

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(ii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted.

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The learned trial court is directed to fix the sureties after due application of mind in light of the judgement rendered by this Court in Arvind Singh v. State of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Deptt. (Application U/S 482 No.2613 of 2023) .

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The learned trial court shall ensure that the right of bail of the applicant granted by this Court is not frustrated by arbitrary demands of sureties or onerous conditions which are unrelated to the socioeconomic status of the applicant.

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However, in the interest of justice and considering the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the learned trial court to conclude the trial in an expeditious time frame.

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Though no specific time frame to conclude the trial has

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been set out in the Cr.P.C., yet the legislative intent of Section 309 Cr.P.C. is explicit. The scheme of the provision clearly shows that the legislative intent is to conclude the trial in an expeditious time frame. In the facts of this case, the learned trial court shall make all endeavours to conclude the trial preferably within a period of one year from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.

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The trial court has also to be conscious of the rights of the accused persons and is under obligation of law to ensure that all expeditious, necessary and coercive measures as per law are adopted to ensure the presence of witnesses. Counsels or parties who delay or impede the proceedings should not only be discouraged from doing so but in appropriate cases exemplary costs should also be imposed on such parties/ counsel.

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All witnesses and counsels are directed to cooperate with the trial proceedings.

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The learned trial court shall issue summons by regular process as per Section 62 Cr.P.C. and also by registered post as provided under Section 69 Cr.P.C. to expedite the trial.

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The learned trial court shall promptly take out all strict coercive measures against all the witnesses in accordance with law who fail to appear in the trial proceeding. Counsels or parties who delay or impede the proceedings should not only be discouraged from

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doing so but in appropriate cases exemplary costs should also be imposed on such parties/ counsel.

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The police authorities shall ensure that warrants or any coercive measures as per law taken out by the learned trial court to ensure that the attendance of the witnesses are promptly executed.

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The Senior Superintendent of Police, Bareilly shall file an affidavit before the trial court on the date fixed regarding status of execution of the warrants/service of summons taken out by the learned trial court.

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The delay in the trials caused by the failure of the police authorities to serve summons or execute coercive measures to compel the appearance of witnesses at the trial despite a statutory mandate, is an issue of grave concern. The said issue had arisen for consideration before this Court in Bhanwar Singh @ Karamvir Vs. State of U.P. (Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 16871 of 2023) & Jitendra v. State of U.P. .(Criminal Misc. Bail Application No.9126 of 2023) and was decided by the judgements dated 24.08.2023 & 20.12.2023 respectively. This Court in Bhanwar Singh @ Karamvir (supra) & Jitendra (supra) had issued certain directions to the police authorities regarding their statutory duty to promptly serve summons and execute coercive processes to compel the appearance of witnesses.

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The Director General of Police, Government of U.P. as

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well as Principal Secretary (Home), Government of U.P. had taken out relevant orders in compliance of judgements in Bhanwar Singh @ Karamvir (supra) & Jitendra (supra) and nominated the Senior Superintendent of Police of the concerned districts as the nodal officials for implementing the said judgments.

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The counsels as well as the learned trial court are directed to comply with the directions issued by this Court in Noor Alam Vs. State of U.P. rendered in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 53159 of 2021 . In case any strike happens during the course of the trial, the learned trial court is directed to ensure full compliance of the directions issued in Noor Alam (supra) to prevent delay in the trial.

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In case the police authorities are failing to comply with the directions issued by this Court in Bhanwar Singh @ Karamvir (supra) & Jitendra (supra) and do not implement the said directions of the Director General of Police, Government of U.P. & the Home Secretary, Government of U.P. in regard to service of summons and execution of coercive measures to compel the appearance of witnesses, the learned trial court shall direct the concerned Senior Superintendent of Police to file an affidavit in this regard.

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The learned trial court shall be under an obligation to examine whether the judgements of this Court in Bhanwar Singh @ Karamvir (supra) & Jitendra (supra) as well as directions of Director General of

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Police, Government of U.P. & the Home Secretary, Government of U.P. issued in compliance thereof have been implemented or not and to take appropriate action as per law.

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The learned trial court shall also take appropriate measures in law after receipt of such affidavit which may include summoning the concerned officials in person.

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It is further directed that in case any accused person who has been enlarged on bail does not cooperate in the trial or adopts dilatory tactics, the learned trial court shall record a finding to this effect and cancel the bail without recourse to this Court.

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The trial judge shall submit a fortnightly report on the progress of trial and the steps taken to comply with this order to the learned District Judge.

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A copy of this order be communicated to the learned trial judge through the learned District Judge, Bareilly as well as Senior Superintendent of Police, Bareilly by the Registrar (Compliance) by e-mail.

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Order Date :- 24.1.2025 Pravin

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Digitally signed by :- PRAVIN VERMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

Arati Verma v. State of U.P.

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Arati Verma v. State of U.P.

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