Allahabad High Court
Sunita Verma vs State Of U.P. on 23 June, 2021
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2021 ALL 1210
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH Reserved on 15.06.2021 Delivered on 23.06.2021 Court No. - 20 Case :- BAIL No. - 233 of 2021 Applicant :- Sunita Verma Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Sushil Kumar Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan,J.
Heard Shri Sushil Kumar, learned counsel for the accused-applicant as well as Shri Vishnu Deo Shukla, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record including the case diary provided by learned A.G.A.
This bail application has been moved by the accused/applicant- Sunita Verma for grant of bail, in Case Crime No. 337 of 2020, under Sections 498-A, 304, 323 and 504 I.P.C, Police Station Kotwali Rudauli, District Faizabad (Now Ayodhya), during trial.
Learned counsel for the accused-applicant while pressing the bail application submits that applicant is the grandmother of the deceased Kinjal and mother-in-law of informant Jyoti and has been falsely been implicated in this case only on account of the fact that informant is having an ill-will towards her and she has not committed any offence.
It is further submitted that applicant since the marriage of her son (Shiv Bachan Verma) with the informant Jyoti was not having any concern with their affairs and the same is also apparent from the excerpt of ''Parivar Register' pertaining to her son Shiv Bachan Verma, which shows that her son was living separately and, therefore, all allegations as levelled by the informant are false and concocted.
It is further submitted that the grand-daughter of the applicant namely Kinjal had accidentally fallen from the swing (jhoola) and sustained head injury and had died and informant herself on 22.08.2020 had presented a written information at P.S. Kotwali Rudauli, Ayodhya, pertaining to the death of her daughter and had not imputed any allegations against anyone. However, after 16 days of the death of her daughter, she had lodged instant F.I.R. on false and concocted facts after due consultation.
It is further submitted that even if the case of the prosecution and the statements of the informant are taken on their face value, the role of causing grievous injury to the deceased has been attributed to co-accused Atul Verma (Devar of informant), while applicant is the mother-in-law of the informant and grandmother of deceased.
It is also submitted that the case of the prosecution could not be believed in view of the inherent inconsistencies emerging in the two statements of the informant and also on the score that though she had stated of being assaulted on the day of occurrence, no injury of any kind has been found on her person nor any abnormality has been found in her medical report pertaining to her pregnancy and, therefore, all allegations levelled by her in her statements are false and could not be believed. Applicant is in jail in this case since 03.12.2020, charge-sheet in this case has already been filed and there is no apprehension that after being released on bail she may flee from the course of law or may otherwise misuse the liberty.
Learned A.G.A. on the other hand controverts the submissions made by learned counsel for the applicant and submits that the applicant was instrumental in inflicting injuries on deceased Kinjal as welll as to informant and, therefore, having regard to the heinousness of the offence, she is not entitled to be released on bail.
Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the record, it appears that allegations against the applicant and other co-accused persons are that they were treating the applicant with cruelty in lieu of demand of dowry and on 21/22.08.2020 at 7:00 pm. her daughter Kinjal was beaten by all accused persons with ''fists and kicks and sticks'. Informant was carrying a pregnancy of six months at that point of time. It is also stated by the informant that her devar Atul Verma had smashed her daughter against the wall due to which, she sustained grievous injuries and died. Perusal of the postmortem report would reveal that one contused swelling on frontal skull of the deceased Kinjal has been found and her skull bone was also found fractured with ''hematoma' beneath it, while two abrasions on the back and one contusion on the left side of parietal and temporal bone was also found and as per the postmortem report, the death of the deceased has occurred due to ''hemorrhage and shock' as a result of antemortem head injury. Informant Jyoti Verma was also medically examined on 08.09.2020 at C.H.C., Rudauli and neither any injury nor any other abnormality has been found. On 29.11.2020, the investigating officer had recorded the additional statement of the informant wherein she had stated that on the day of occurrence his husband (applicant) was not present at home.
Perusal of record would also reveal that on 22.08.2020, the informant had given a written information about the death of her daughter Kinjal to the police station concerned, however, no imputation of any kind has been casted therein on anyone and even if statements recorded during investigation are believed she has attributed allegation of smashing her daughter against the wall to her by devar Atul Verma, while general role has been assigned to other accused persons.
It has been vehemently submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that the statement of the informant could not be believed due to inherent contradictions and improvements. Applicant is grandmother of deceased and is old aged. She is in jail in this case since 03.12.2020.
Keeping in view the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused, severity of punishment, submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I am of the considered view that applicant has made out a case for bail. The bail application is thus allowed.
Let the accused/applicant- Sunita Verma involved in aforesaid case, be released on bail on her furnishing a personal bond with two sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions:-
(i) The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence by intimidating/pressurizing the witnesses, during the investigation or trial.
(ii) The applicant shall cooperate in the trial sincerely without seeking any adjournment.
(iii) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.
Identity, status and residence proof of the applicant and sureties be verified by the Court concerned before the bonds are accepted.
Observations made herein-above are only for the purpose of disposal of this bail application and shall not have any bearing on the fate of the trial of the instant case.
Order Date :- 23.06.2021/Praveen