Hearing a bail plea in a case involving extortion and offences under the Arms Act, the court granted bail observing the accused had no specific allegation against him in the FIR as he was not arrested at the spot, making it a fit case for release.
Petitioner enlarged on bail furnishing a bond of Rs. 10,000 with two sureties of the like amount each.
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.11308 of 2023
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-650 Year-2022 Thana- BEGUSARAI TOWN District- Begusarai
======================================================
KARAN KUMAR S/o Hari Sah R/o Village- Vishnupur Chandni Chowk, P.S.- Begusarai Nagar, Distt- Begusarai.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Anshu Dhar Sharma, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Syed Mojibur Rahman, APP ======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHAILENDRA SINGH ORAL ORDER
2 24-03-2023
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned APP for the State.
Petitioner seeks regular bail in connection with Begusarai Town P.S. Case No. 650 of 2022, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 386, 387, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 25(1-b)a, 26 and 35 of the Arms Act.
As per the prosecution, the informant alleged that this petitioner along with other co-accused persons demanded extortion money of Rs. 5,00,000/-( rupees five lac) from him by brandishing weapons and snatched a cash of Rs.5,000/-, a gold chain etc. from the informant’s son and in the meantime after seeing the police party, the accused persons attempted to flee
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away but two accused persons, namely, Raja Kumar and Suraj Thakur were apprehended and during that course, one countrymade pistol and two cartridges fell down on the ground from the possession of the said co-accused persons and the same were handed over to the police by him.
The main submissions advanced by petitioner’s counsel are that the petitioner was not arrested at the spot, he is simply alleged to be a member of unlawful assembly of the accused persons but any overt act of this petitioner has not been revealed in the FIR, he has been languishing in jail since 03.11.2022 and as per the FIR, one country-made pistol and two cartridges are stated to have fallen down on the ground from the possession of the accused persons near the house of the informant while they were fleeing away after seeing the police party but there is no allegation against the petitioner to have the said firearms in his possession when the alleged occurrence took place. Further submission is that the petitioner has been chargesheeted and the seizure list of the recovered firearms was not prepared in accordance with law. Further submission is that against the petitioner, there are criminal antecedents of two cases in which he is on bail.
Learned APP appearing for the State has opposed the
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11308 of 2023(2) dt.24-03-2023 3/4
prayer for bail.
In view of the facts, as stated above and mainly taking into account the petitioner’s custody period and also the fact that in the FIR, there is no any specific allegation against the petitioner and he is simply stated to be a member of the alleged unlawful assembly which committed the alleged occurrence, in my opinion it is a fit case for bail to the petitioner. Accordingly, let the petitioner named-above be enlarged on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 10,000/- (ten thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the concerned Court in connection with Begusarai Town P.S. Case No. 650 of 2022 on the following conditions:-
(1) Petitioner shall co-operate in the trial and shall be properly represented on each and every date fixed by the Court below and shall remain physically present as directed by the Court below and on his absence on two consecutive dates without sufficient reason, his bail bond shall be cancelled by the Court below.
(2) If the petitioner tampers with the evidence or the witnesses, in that case the prosecution will be at liberty to move for cancellation of his bail.
(3) One of the bailors shall be a close relative of the
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petitioner who has sworn affidavit in this miscellaneous petition.
(Shailendra Singh, J.)
maynaz/-
U T
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the petitioner, not arrested at the spot with no specific overt act allegation in the FIR but merely as a member of unlawful assembly, is entitled to bail in a grave case involving extortion a
2 provisions across 2 enactments
KARAN KUMAR
The State of Bihar
SHAILENDRA SINGH
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
