Allowed

Gurpartap Singh @ Gopi and Another v. State of Punjab

Punjab & Haryana HC16 Jul 2024CRA-S/1315/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Regular bail appeal in a murder case where appellants were unnamed in the FIR and implicated only via a co-accused's disclosure statement; both material witnesses were declared hostile at trial. Court granted bail, noting prolonged custody and that 27 witnesses remained to be examined.

What did the court decide?

Appellants admitted to bail on furnishing bail/surety bonds to the satisfaction of the Trial Court/Duty Magistrate concerned.

Gurpartap Singh @ Gopi and Another Vs State of… — Caste Atrocities | Punjab & Haryana HC (2024)

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252 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJ A B AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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CRA-S-1315-2024 (O&M) Date of D ecision : 16.07.2024

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Gurpartap Sing h @ Gopi and another …Appellants

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Versus

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State of Punjab ….Respondent

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CORAM: HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE MANJARI NEHRU KAUL

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Present: Mr. PBS Goraya, Advocate for the appellants. Mr. Amit Rana, Sr. DAG, Punjab.

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MANJARI NEHRU KAUL, J. (ORAL)

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Pr a yer in the present appeal is for s etting aside the impugned orde r 01.03.2024 whereby regular bail application of t he appellants in case FIR No.3 2 dated 17.05.20 2 3 under Sections 302, 323, 32 4 , 427, 341, 148, 149, 120-B o f IPC and Secti o n 3(1)(L), (A), 3(2) (V) of Scheduled Caste and Schedule d Tribes (Preven t ion of Atrocities) Act, regist e red at Police Station Jhander , Amritsar has b een dismissed by the learn e d Additional Sessions Judge , Amritsar.

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Le a rned counsel, at the outset, h as drawn the attention of thi s Court to the a l legations levelled in the FI R which has been annexed a s Annexure A-1. It has been submitted that a p e rusal of the FIR clearly reveal s that both the a p pellants were not named ther e in; neither was any suspicio n raised qua their involvement in the crime in q u estion. The appellants came t o be nominated a s accused in the disclosure stat e ment allegedly suffered by co - accused Manin d er Pal Singh @ M.P that too after one month of the allege d PUSHPINDER SAINI 2024.07.18 05:53 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRA-S-1315-2 0 24 2

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occurrence. L e arned counsel has further placed on record the testimonies o f the two most m aterial witnesses i.e. PW-1 Aji t Singh (father of the deceased ) and PW-2 Kul d eep Singh (paternal uncle of the deceased and alleged ey e witness). Whil e drawing the attention of this Court to the deposition of bot h these material w itnesses, it has been argued by t h e learned counsel that they di d not support the case of the prosecution, qua th e appellants, as a result of whic h they were decla r ed hostile. Learned counsel has, therefore, submitted that in th e aforementioned facts and circumstances, since t he two most material witnesse s had not suppo r ted the case of the prosecuti o n, further incarceration of th e appellants who have now been in custody si n ce 03.06.2023 and 27.07.2023 respectively would serve no useful purpose as 27 witnesses still remain to b e examined.

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Pe r contra, learned State counsel while opposing the prayer an d submission ma d e by the counsel opposite has not disputed that the appellant s were not name d in the FIR in question. It has a l so not been disputed that it is a case based on e ye witness account. Howeve r , it has been submitted by th e learned State c o unsel that in the disclosure st a tement suffered by co-accuse d Maninder Pal S ingh @ M.P and statement m ade under Section 161 of th e Cr.P.C by a co - villager Manpreet Singh, names of the appellants had croppe d up and it came t o light that they were one of t h e unidentified persons who ha d accompanied the accused at the time of the all e ged occurrence. Learned Stat e counsel, howev e r, on instructions from ASI Ke w al Singh, has not disputed tha t all the materia l witnesses stand examined a n d the complainant PW-1 Aji t Singh (father o f the deceased) and PW-2 Kuld e ep Singh (paternal uncle of th e deceased and al l eged eye witness) had been dec l ared hostile during trial.

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PUSHPINDER SAINI 2024.07.18 05:53 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRA-S-1315-2 0 24 3

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4. I h ave heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the

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material placed on record.

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Th e FIR came to be lodged at the i nstance of Ajit Singh, father

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of the deceased, wherein he alleged as follows:

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“Statement of Ajit Singh son of B a chan Singh r/o Mohan Bhandarian Tehsil Ajnala district Amritsar ag e d 50 year mobile no. 8288896619, Stated that I am a labourer and r/o a bove mentioned address. I have two children. My elder daughter Kanw a ljit kaur is married and my younger son Sukhraj Singh has studied till 10th class. That on dated 15.05.2023 he had gone to pay obeisance a t Baba Bhadar Singh on dowry motorcycle of his Chacha Kuldeep (Singh's son Gurjant Singh bearing registration no. PB 38 E 2958 and w hen he reached near dera of Joban at Khatra Kalan road then our co- v illagers Love son of Kuldeep Singh, Balram singh son of Kala, Manin d er Singh son of Bunti, Gopi son of Sukhdev, AMan and his brother Sajjan sons of Bal r/o Mohan Bhandarian accompanied by 5/6 u n identified persons who were hiding behind trees of canal and arm with deadly weapon like baseball, datar, kirpan and dangs and they all wayl a id Sukhraj Singh by surrounding his motorcycle and all attacked him w i th their respective weapons and he fell from the motorcycle and they d a maged the motorcycle also. That in order to save himself, my son ran to w ards back side but they caused him more injuries. In the mean time I a nd my brother Kuldeep Singh were also going towards that site on m otorcycle and in the meantime on hearing his shrieks, people residing in the surrounding houses also came out and in the mean time we also reached there. On seeing so many persons gathering there, they all ra n way with their respective weapon. The motive is that one year back, are boys had altercated with these persons in which Gopi son of Sukhdev Singh had suffered injuries and keeping this grudge, they all have caused injuries to my son Sukhraj Singh after way laying on 15.05.20 2 3 and seriously injured him and at present he is undergoing treatment as Sunrise private hospital Amritsar and he is unconscious and whene v er he gains consciousness, we will inform you. That they all have da n g grave in justice to us by causing serious injuries to my son with dead ly weapons.”

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A p erusal of the aforementioned FIR indeed reveals that the appellants were not named therein. The comp l ainant as well as the alleged eye witness Ku l deep Singh PW-2 have admitt e dly been declared hostile by

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PUSHPINDER SAINI 2024.07.18 05:53 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRA-S-1315-2 0 24 4

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the trial Court. The trial would take conside r able time to conclude as 27 witnesses still r e main to be examined. 7. In t he facts and circumstances as e numerated hereinabove, this Court deems it fit to extend the concession o f bail to the appellants as no further incarcer a tion of the appellants is require d . 8. A c cordingly, the instant appeal is allowed and the appellants be admitted to b ail on his furnishing bail/suret y bonds to the satisfaction of the Trial Court / Duty Magistrate concerned. H o wever, it is made clear that anything obser v ed hereinabove shall not be co n strued to be an expression of opinion on the m erits of the case.

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July 16, 2024	(M A	NJARI NEHRU KAUL) JUDGE
ps
	Whether speaking/ reasoned	: Yes/No
	Whether reportable	: Yes/No

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PUSHPINDER SAINI 2024.07.18 05:53 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

Gurpartap Singh @ Gopi and Another v. State of Punjab

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Gurpartap Singh @ Gopi and Another v. State of Punjab

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

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