High Court granted anticipatory bail to family members of a deceased woman accused under IPC 304B/34, noting allegations were general and based on suspicion without specific evidence.
Granted bail to petitioners Shankar Paswan, Sushil Kumar with bond of Rs 10,000 each and two sureties; confirmed provisional bail for Tetari Devi and Archana Kumari.
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.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.12239 of 2021
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-93 Year-2020 Thana- PIYAR District- Muzaffarpur
======================================================
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
... ... Opposite Party/s
====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Ms. Sadhna Suman For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR ORAL ORDER
3 03-02-2022
and the learned APP for the State.
The petitioners seek bail in anticipation of their
arrest in connection with Piar (Hatha) P.S. Case No. 93/2020 instituted for the offence under Sections 304B/34 of the Indian Penal Code.
By order dated 23.12.2021, the petitioners nos.
2 and 4 on the ground of their being ladies and there being
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.12239 of 2021(3) dt.03-02-2022 2/4
no specific accusation against them were granted provisional bail and case diary was called for.
The case diary has since been received.
The learned counsel for the petitioners has informed this Court that after the rejection of the anticipatory bail petition of the husband of the deceased, he has surrendered to the process of law on 20.01.2022.
This fact is stated to have been brought on record by way of a supplementary affidavit which is not part of the record.
However, believing the statement of the learned counsel for the petitioners to be true, this Court finds that the accusation against all the petitioners in the present petition is general and omnibus and they appear to have been made accused in this case only because of their relationship with the husband of the deceased.
The petitioner nos. 1 and 3 are the father-in-law and the brother-in-law of the deceased whereas the petitioner nos. 2 and 4 are the mother-in-law and the sister-
in-law of the deceased.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.12239 of 2021(3) dt.03-02-2022 3/4
The learned counsel for the petitioners has also
drawn the attention of this Court to the fact that the accusation is based on suspicion and nothing else. The deceased and her husband had been living separately with no interference from the family members of the husband of the deceased including the petitioners. No specific evidence has been collected during the course of investigation and, therefore, it has been urged on behalf of the petitioners that no useful purpose would be served in sending the petitioners to jail.
The petitioners assure that they shall participate in the investigation if the case is still pending investigation and if the case goes to trial, they shall participate in the trial also.
Considering the afore-noted submissions on behalf of the petitioners, the provisional bail granted to the petitioner nos. 2 and 4, is hereby confirmed.
They shall remain on the same bail bonds.
The petitioner nos. 1 and 3 are also directed to be
released on bail, in the event of their arrest or surrender
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.12239 of 2021(3) dt.03-02-2022 4/4
before the court below within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt / production of a copy of this order, on furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) each with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Judicial Magistrate -1st Class, Muzaffarpur, in connection with Piar (Hatha) P.S. Case No. 93/2020, subject to the condition laid down under Section 438 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
(Ashutosh Kumar, J)
sunilkumar/-
U T
3 issues framed by the court
Whether petitioners are entitled to anticipatory bail in a Dowry death prosecution.
Whether the accusations against the petitioners are based on suspicion rather than evidence.
Whether the conditional grant of bail is appropriate under Section 438 CrPC.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
SHANKAR PASWAN
TETARI DEVI
SUSHIL KUMAR
ARCHANA KUMARI
THE STATE OF BIHAR
TUNTUN PASWAN
ASHUTOSH KUMAR
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
