The High Court granted bail to the applicant in a murder case, allowing his release on court bond after finding parity with a co-accused previously granted bail, while leaving common intention issues for trial.
Applicant directed to be released on bail by furnishing a PR bond of Rs. 30,000 with one or two sureties in the like amount.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL BAIL APPLICATION NO. 1451 OF 2021
Mr. Noor Mohammad Mehboob Pathan .... Applicant Versus The State of Maharashtra .... Respondent
Dr. Uday P. Warunjikar for Applicant. Smt. A. A. Takalkar, APP for State/Respondent.
CORAM : SARANG V. KOTWAL, J. DATE : 25th JUNE, 2021 (Through Video Conferencing)
P.C. :
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Gokhale
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Information Report (for short ‘F.I.R.’) itself, lodged by one Imran Shaikh in respect of murder of his sister in law Nikat. He has stated in the F.I.R. that, he was residing with his joint family. There was a common place. The ownership of that place was disputed by the informant on one side and Latifs’s family on the other. Because of that, there were frequent quarrels between the two groups.
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inside. He saw that, Latif was standing there with a heavy iron rod in his hand and he had given a blow on Nikat’s head. She was lying motionless in that room. The other accused Peer Mohammad Pathan was standing next to Latif. The informant raised shouts. The accused ran away from the house. Nikat was taken to Government hospital, but she was declared dead before admission. On this basis, the F.I.R. was lodged and the applicant was arrested. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that, the co-accused Peer Mohd. Pathan, who is similarly placed, is granted bail by this court (Coram: Smt. Bharti Dangre, J.) vide order dated 10/12/2020 passed in Criminal Bail Application No.3291 of 2019. He submitted that, on the ground of parity the applicant deserves to be released on bail. He submitted that, in any case, the applicant had not played any role and, therefore, the act attributed to Latif cannot be attributed to the present applicant. The applicant, according to the first informant, was standing in the outer room, therefore, if Latif had exceeded any common intention by giving the fatal blow, the applicant cannot be held responsible for Latif’s act.
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deceased who has stated that, the applicant was present in the inner room when the blow was given to Nikat and applicant instigated Latif in committing that assault.
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as, of this child witness show that, all the three accused were
present in the house but the blow was given by the co-accused Latif. Other accused Peer Mohd. Pathan is granted bail by this court, as mentioned earlier. In this view of the matter, on the ground of parity, the applicant also deserves same treatment and deserves to be released on bail. Though, the child witness has stated that the applicant had instigated the main accused, informant’s statement does not reflect this allegation. In fact, informant’s statement shows that the applicant was in the outer room when blow was given on the deceased in the inner room. The applicant has sufficiently made out a case for grant of bail. It is made clear that, question of sharing any common intention and all other questions are left open to be decided during trial. The observations made in this order are restricted to passing of this order only. Since the applicant is claiming parity with Peer Mohd. Pathan, condition imposed on him are imposed on the applicant.
ORDER
(i) In connection with C.R.No. 205 of 2019 registered at Junnar police station, Dist. Pune
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(ii) The Applicant shall attend the trial regularly.
(iv) The applicant shall not tamper with the evidence, directly or indirectly.
(SARANG V. KOTWAL, J.)
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2 issues framed by the court
Whether the applicant is entitled to bail on the ground of parity with a co-accused who was similarly granted bail.
Whether the applicant can be held responsible for the fatal blow attributed to a co-accused under the doctrine of common intention at the bail stage.
Noor Mohammad Mehboob Pathan
The State of Maharashtra
Sarang V. Kotwal
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
