Allowed

Somwati v. State of Haryana and Another

Punjab & Haryana HC12 Dec 2024CRA-S/131/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Appeal against dismissal of anticipatory bail in an FIR under IPC sections 323/506/34 and Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act arising from a landlord-tenant dispute. Interim bail granted on joining investigation was made absolute after the State confirmed no custodial interrogation was needed.

What did the court decide?

Interim bail directions dated 12.01.2024 made absolute; release on bail in event of arrest subject to cooperation with investigation and Section 482 BNSS conditions.

Somwati Vs State of Haryana and Another — Caste Atrocities | Punjab & Haryana HC (2024)

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CRA-S-131-2024 (O&M)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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CRA-S-131-2024 (O&M)

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Date of Decision: 12.12.2024

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Somwati ...Petitioner

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Versus State of H aryana & another ...Respondents

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE GURVINDER SINGH GILL

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Present: Mr. Jainainder Saini and Ms . Shilpa Saini, Advocates, for the appellant.

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Mr. Munish Sharma, DAG, H aryana, assisted by Dr. Rajesh Kum a r Mohan, ACP, IPS.

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Mr. B.S. Beniwal, Advocate , for respondent No.2.

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FIR No.	Dated	Police Station	Section/s
490	19.10.2023	Azad Nagar,	323/506/34 IPC and 3(1)(r) of
		District Hisar	the Scheduled Castes and the
			Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
			Atrocities)Act,1989

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GURVINDER SINGH GILL, J. (Oral)

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The app e llant assails order dated 03.01 . 2024 passed by the Additiona l Sessions Judge, Hisar, whereby his appl i cation for grant of anticipator y bail in re s pect of aforementioned FIR has been dismissed.

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When th e matter was taken up for prelim i nary hearing on 12.01.2024, th e followin g order was passed by a Coordin a te Bench:

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“The present appeal has bee n filed by the appicant-appellan t un d er Section 14A(2) of SC/ST Act a gainst the order dated 03.01.202 4 passed by the Court of Additional S e ssions Judge, Hisar, whereby th e ap p lication moved by the appellant u n der Section 438 CrPC for grant o f ant i cipatory bail in criminal case ha v ing FIR No.790 dated 19.10.202 3 reg i stered under Sections 323/506/34 IPC and 3(1)(r) of the Schedule d

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VIMAL KUMAR 2024.12.13 16:59 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRA-S-131-2024 (O&M)

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Ca s tes and the Scheduled Tribes(Pre v ention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 a t Police Station Azad Nagar, District H i sar has been dismissed.

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The counsel for the applicant- a ppellant inter alia submits that th e co m plainant in the present case is te n ant under the appellant and whe n the appellant and her husband asked t h e complainant and her husband t o vacate the premises in question, th e complainant coined false stor y wh i ch resulted in registration of pres e nt FIR. That the allegations mad e in t h e FIR are totally false. That eve n otherwise the maximum sentenc e pro v ided in the present case is 5 y e ars and till date no notice unde r Se c tion 41-A CrPC issued by the po l ice officials in compliance of th e gui d elines issued by the Hon’ble Su p reme Court in Arnesh Kumar Vs. Sta t e of Bihar (2014)8 SCC 273. T hat even otherwise simple injuries ar e all e ged to be attributed to the appel l ant who is a lady aged about 43 ye a rs and is having no criminal antec e dants.

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The counsel for the applicant- a ppellant further submits that eve n oth e rwise the alleged occurrence too k place inside the house and thus i t co u ld be easily made out the same h ad not happened within a publi c vie w as per the requirement of Sectio n 3 of SC/ST Act. The counsel fo r the applicant-appellant while placin g reliance upon the law laid dow n by H on’ble Supreme Court in Prath v i Raj Chauhan Vs. Union of Indi a 20 2 0(2) SCC(Cri) 657 submits that b ar as provided in Section 18 an d 18- A of SC/ST Act will not be attr a cted in the present petition as n o pri m a facie case is made out under SC/ST Act against the applicant - ap p ellant. That appellant is having n o criminal antecedents and is read y to j o in the investigation with the poli c e.

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Notice of motion.

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Mr. Neeraj Sheoran, DAG, H a ryana accepts notice on behalf o f res p ondent no.1-State and prays for time to seek necessary instruction s as t o whether any rent dispute is goin g on between the parties.

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The State counsel on instru c tions from DSP Vinod Shanka r ap p rised the Court that the police o fficials went to the house of th e ap p ellant to serve notice under Section 41(A) CrPC but she was no t av a ilable in the house.

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Now be listed on 27.02.2024.

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As the occurrence took place w ithin four walls of the house, it i s a m oot point as to whether the alleg e d occurrence took place within a

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VIMAL KUMAR 2024.12.13 16:59 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRA-S-131-2024 (O&M)

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pu b lic view and further till date no no t ice under Section 41(A) CrPC ha s been served to the appellant.

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In the given circumstances, t he applicant-appellant is hereb y dir e cted to join the investigation wit h the police and in case of arrest , the appellant is directed to be r e leased on interim bail by th e IO/ A rresting Officer to his own satis f action till the next date of hearing . Th e appellant should join the investi g ation with the police well in tim e be fo re the next date of hearing and is to abide by the conditions a s en v isaged under Section 438(2) of Cr . P.C.”

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Learned S tate counsel assisted by learn e d counsel for the complainan t opposed the appeal on the ground tha t serious allegations have bee n leveled i n the FIR and as such, the a ppellant does not deserve th e concessi o n of anticipatory bail. Learned State counsel upon instruction s has, how e ver, informed that pursuant to i nterim directions issued by thi s Court, th e appellant has since joined inv e stigation and is not required fo r any custodial interrogation.

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Having r e gard to the aforestated positio n , wherein the appellant is state d to have joined investigation and is n ot required for any custodia l interroga t ion, the instant appeal is acce p ted and the interim direction s issued b y this Court vide order date d 12.01.2024 are hereby mad e absolute s ubject to the condition that the a ppellant shall join investigatio n as and w h en called upon to do so and c ooperate with the Investigatin g Officer a n d shall also abide by the cond i tions as provided under Sectio n 482 BNS S .

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12.12.2024 (GURVINDER SINGH GILL) Vimal JUDGE

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Whether speaking/reason e d: Yes/No Whether reportable: Yes/No

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VIMAL KUMAR 2024.12.13 16:59 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

Somwati v. State of Haryana and Another

Case brief

What is this about?

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Somwati v. State of Haryana and Another

Case brief

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