Akash Karmakar and Anr. Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Bail and Remand | Calcutta HC (2026)

Akash Karmakar and Anr. Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Bail and Remand | Calcutta HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petitioners Akash Karmakar and Jagannath Karmakar enlarged on bail on bond of Rs.20,000/- each with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each (one local), to the satisfaction of the Learned ACJM, Ghatal, Paschim Medinipur, conditioned on presence at every trial date and not leaving the district of Paschim Medinipur without prior intimation to the trial court; pending applications disposed of.

Issue for consideration

Whether Akash Karmakar and Jagannath Karmakar, in custody for over seven months in connection with Ghatal Police Station Case No. 194 of 2025 (Sessions case no. 14/September/2025) under sections 331(4)/64(2)(k)(L)/70(1)/115(2)/126(2) of the BNS, are entitled to be enlarged on bail under Section 439 CrPC / Section 483 BNSS, in light of subsequent trial developments including P.W.2's failure to identify the accused and her declaration as hostile.

Court's answer

The court found that there has been dilution in the gravity of the offence, which does not warrant further detention of the petitioners, who are therefore entitled to be released on bail.

Ratio / Principle

In reaching this view, the court took into account the subsequent changes at trial, particularly that P.W.2, the victim lady, failed to identify the accused persons in court and was thereafter declared hostile.

Key takeaways

The prayer for bail was allowed: petitioners Akash Karmakar and Jagannath Karmakar were ordered to be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.20,000/- each, with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each (one of whom must be local), to the satisfaction of the Learned ACJM, Ghatal, Paschim Medinipur.ratio¶18
As a condition of bail, the petitioners must make themselves physically available on each and every date fixed by the learned trial court.ratio¶19
As a further condition of bail, the petitioners shall not leave the district of Paschim Medinipur without prior intimation to the learned trial court.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Calcutta High Court (Tirthankar Ghosh, J.) allowed CRM (M) 14 of 2026, an application for bail under Section 439 CrPC / Section 483 BNSS, 2023 filed by Akash Karmakar and Jagannath Karmakar in connection with Ghatal Police Station Case No. 194 of 2025 dated 06.06.2025 under sections 331(4)/64(2)(k)(L)/70(1)/115(2)/126(2) of the BNS, corresponding to Sessions case no. 14/September/2025. The petitioners had spent seven months and twelve days in custody. Taking into account subsequent changes in trial — in particular that P.W.2, the victim lady, failed to identify the accused persons in court and was declared hostile — the court held that there had been dilution in the gravity of the offence which did not warrant further detention. Bail was granted on a bond of Rs.20,000/- each with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each (one local), to the satisfaction of the Learned ACJM, Ghatal, Paschim Medinipur, subject to conditions that the petitioners attend every date fixed by the trial court and do not leave the district of Paschim Medinipur without prior intimation to it. Pending applications were disposed of.

22.01.2026

Serial no. 21 [G.S.D]

CRM (M) 14 of 2026

In re : An Application for Bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973/under Section 483 of the BNSS, 2023 in connection with Ghatal Police Station Case No. 194 of 2025 dated 06.06.2025 under sections 331(4)/64(2)(k)(L)/70(1)/115(2)/126(2) of the BNS corresponding to Sessions case no. 14/September/2025.

-And-

In the matter of : Akash Karmakar & Anr.

Mr. Sabir Ahmed Mr. Sudip Kushari Mr. Dhiman Banerjee Mr. Q. E. Ahmed Mr. Antarikhya Basu Mr. Aritra Bhattacharya

Mr. Kunal Ganguly

… Petitioner(s) … for the Petitioner(s) … for the State-respondent(s) … for the defacto-complainant

Learned advocate for the petitioners has filed certified copy of the deposition of the witness no.1 and witness no.2. Learned advocate also submits that the petitioners are in custody for seven months and twelve days, as such, on any stringent condition, they may be enlarged on bail.

Learned advocate for the State, on the other hand, opposes the prayer for bail.

I have taken into account the subsequent changes particularly in the court where the P.W.2 – the victim lady,

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failed to identify the accused persons in court. Subsequent to which, she was declared hostile.

Having considered that there has been dilution in the gravity of the offence which do not warrant further detention of the present petitioners, petitioners are entitled to be released on bail.

Hence, the prayer for bail of the petitioners is

Allowed.

Accordingly, the petitioners viz, Akash Karmakar and Jagannath Karmakar shall be released on bail upon furnishing bond of Rs.20,000/-(Rupees Twenty Thousand only) each , with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand only) each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the Learned ACJM, Ghatal, Paschim Medinipur.

If on bail, the petitioners shall also make themselves physically available on each and every date so fixed by the learned trial court and shall not leave the district of Paschim Medinipur without prior intimation to the learned trial court.

Accordingly, CRM(M) 14 of 2026 is allowed .

Pending application(s), if any, is also disposed of.

Certified copy of the evidence and the report submitted by the Officer-in-charge of Ghatal Police Station be kept with the record.

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Parties to act on a server copy of this order duly collected from the official website of the Hon’ble High Court, Calcutta.

Urgent Photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties subject to compliance with all requisite formalities.

(Tirthankar Ghosh, J.)