Jahangir Mondal and Ors. Vs State of West Bengal — Bail and Remand | Calcutta HC (2026)

Jahangir Mondal and Ors. Vs State of West Bengal — Bail and Remand | Calcutta HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Bail granted to all three petitioners (Jahangir Mondal, Alamgir Mondal, Anarul Mondal @ Anarul Alam Mondal) on bond of Rs. 20,000/- each with two sureties of Rs. 10,000/- each (one local) to the satisfaction of the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Baruipur; subject to conditions of physical presence on every trial date, remaining within South 24 Parganas district and not entering Joynagar Police Station jurisdiction; Trial Court directed to fix monthly schedules of three dates and conclude the trial expeditiously.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioners, in custody for more than five and a half years while only 5 of the 17 witnesses cited by the prosecution have been examined, should be released on bail notwithstanding the gravity of the offence.

Court's answer

In deciding a bail prayer, a court has to balance the gravity of the offence, the period of detention already suffered, and the probability of the trial being taken to its logical conclusion within a reasonable period of time.

Ratio / Principle

Bail was granted solely on the ground of the petitioners' prolonged detention (arrested February 2021, more than 5 years 5 months elapsed), deliberately without entering into the merits of the case.

Key takeaways

In granting bail the court took into account that the genesis of the case lay in a property dispute and that the petitioners have no criminal antecedents; only 5 witnesses had been examined and 12 remained to be examined.ratio¶12
All three petitioners (Jahangir Mondal, Alamgir Mondal and Anarul Mondal @ Anarul Alam Mondal) are to be released on bail upon 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 Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Baruipur.ratio¶14

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Calcutta High Court (Criminal Miscellaneous Jurisdiction), C.R.M. (M) 1606 of 2026, decided 30.07.2026 (Tirthankar Ghosh, J.): Bail granted under S.439 CrPC / S.483 BNSS 2023 to three accused (Jahangir Mondal, Alamgir Mondal, Anarul Mondal @ Anarul Alam Mondal) in G.R. Case No. 797 of 2021 (Joynagar PS FIR No. 73 of 2021, Sections 448/302/325/34 IPC) solely on the ground of prolonged detention — over five and a half years in custody since arrest in February 2021, with only 5 of 17 prosecution witnesses examined — expressly without entering into the merits; the court balanced gravity of offence, period of detention and prospect of trial completion, noting the case arose from a property dispute and the petitioners had no criminal antecedents. Release ordered on bond of Rs. 20,000/- each with two sureties of Rs. 10,000/- each (one local) before the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Baruipur, subject to conditions: presence on every trial date, no departure from South 24 Parganas district, and no entry into Joynagar Police Station jurisdiction; Trial Court directed to hold at least one monthly schedule of three dates and take the trial to its logical conclusion at the earliest.

30.07.2026

Item No.289 Ct.No.35 dc.

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION

Allowed

C.R.M. (M) 1606 of 2026

In Re : An Application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 corresponding to Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 filed in connection with Joynagar Police Station FIR No. 73 of 2021 dated 07.02.2021 under Sections 448/302/325/34 of the Indian Penal Code (G.R. Case No. 797 of 2021).

And In Re : Jahangir Mondal and others ... Petitioners. Mr. Ranajit Roy, Mr. Indra Prosad Mullick ... For the Petitioners. Mr. Gurudas Mitra, Mr. Utsav Dutta ... For the State.

Learned advocate appearing for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are in custody for more than five and a half years and till date, only 5 witnesses have been examined, out of 17 witnesses cited by the prosecution.

Learned advocate appearing for the State, on the other hand, opposes the prayer for bail and prays for time to conclude the examination of the witnesses within a period of eight months particularly regarding the evidence of the child which is appearing in the case diary.

A Court has to balance between the gravity of the offence, the period of detention already suffered and the probability of the trial being taken to its logical conclusion within a reasonable period of time. Petitioners were arrested on February, 2021 and more than 5 years 5 months have

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passed since then. Till date, only five witnesses have been examined and 12 witnesses are yet to be examined. The genesis of the case arose out of property dispute and there are no criminal antecedents of the present petitioners.

Having regard to the overall circumstances of the case and without entering into the merits of the case, only on the ground of detention of the present petitioners, I am inclined to release the petitioners on bail. As such, the prayer for bail of the petitioners is allowed .

Accordingly, the petitioners viz., 1. Jahangir Mondal , 2. Alamgir Mondal and 3. Anarul Mondal @ Anarul Alam Mondal shall be released on bail upon furnishing 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 Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Baruipur.

If on bail, the petitioners shall be physically present on each and every date before the learned Trial Court and shall not leave the jurisdiction of the district of South 24Parganas.

The petitioners shall also not enter the jurisdiction of Joynagar Police Station.

Learned Trial Court is directed to ensure that at least one schedule is fixed in a month consisting of three dates.

The trial of the case at the earliest be taken to its logical conclusion having regard to the plight expressed by the learned advocate appearing for the State in opposing the bail.

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Memo of Evidence submitted by the learned advocate appearing for the State be kept with the record.

The application for bail, being CRM (M) 1606 of 2026,

is, thus, disposed of.

All concerned parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

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

(Tirthankar Ghosh, J.)