Allahabad High Court
Sumit And Another vs State Of U.P. on 17 August, 2021
Author: Vivek Kumar Singh
Bench: Vivek Kumar Singh
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Court No. - 71 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 16584 of 2021 Applicant :- Sumit And Another Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Devendra Gupta,Amrendra Nath Singh (Senior Adv.) Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Vivek Kumar Singh,J.
Heard Amrendra Nath Singh (Senior Adv.) assisted by Sri Devendra Gupta learned counsel for the applicants and learned A.G.A., for the State and perused the record.
It has been contended by the learned counsel for the applicant that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case due to ulterior motive. The applicant has no concern with the present case. It is next contended that since the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 is the special Act and it provides that the prosecution can be initiated only on complaint made by an authorized Inspector or other authorized person defined under section 32 and provisions of Cr.P.C. Learned counsel for the applicants has drawn the attention of this Court towards the judgement rendered by a Division Bench of this Court in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 20338 of 2019 Ashok Kumar Sharma v. State of U.P. and 3 others, reported 2018 (2) J.Cr.C. 1527. It is next contended that as a matter of fact no such recovery has been made from the applicants. The police has planted false recovery. It is next contended that factum of recovery has not been supported by any independent or public witness to support the prosecution version. It is further contended that applicants are languishing in jail since 03.03.2021, having no other criminal history and in case applicants are released on bail, they will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in the trial.
Learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the bail prayer of the applicant and submitted that the innocence of the applicant cannot be adjudged at pre-trial stage. However, learned AGA failed to dispute the submissions made by the learned counsel for the applicant.
Courts have taken notice of overcrowding of jails during the current pandemic situation (Ref: Sue, Motu Writ Petition (c) No. 1/2020 , Contagion of Covid 19 Virus in prisons before the Supreme Court of India). These circumstances shall also be factored in while considering bail applications on behalf of accused persons.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, perusing the record of the case, prevailing situation in the State and also that trial is not likely to be heard in near future, nature of accusation and the severity of punishment in case of conviction and the nature of supporting evidence, prima facie satisfaction of the Court in support of the charge and reformative theory of punishment and also considering the submissions advanced by learned counsel for the parties, larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the dictum of Apex Court in the case of Dataram Singh v. State of U.P. and another reported in (2018) 3 SCC 22, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I find it to be a case of bail.
Let applicants- Sumit and Manish Kumar, involved in Case Crime No. 0102 of 2021, under section- 275, 276, 420 IPC and Section 18 A, 27 Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Police Station - Sadar Bazar, District- Saharanpur, be released on bail on their furnishing a personal bond and two heavy sureties (one should be of a family member) before the court concerned subject to following conditions:-
(i) The applicants shall file an undertaking to the effect that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence when the witnesses are present in court. In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law.
(ii) The applicants shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, either personally or through his counsel. In case of his absence, without sufficient cause, the trial court may proceed against him under Section 229-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(iii) In case, the applicants misuses the liberty of bail during trial and in order to secure their presence proclamation under Section 82 Cr.P.C. is issued and the applicants fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against them, in accordance with law, under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code.
If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicants is deliberate or without sufficient cause, then it shall be open for the trial court to treat such default as abuse of liberty of bail and proceed against them in accordance with law.
In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the court below shall be at liberty to cancel the bail.
The trial court concerned is directed to expedite the trial of the present case and conclude the same expeditiously preferably within a period of six month from the date of this order, if there is no legal impediment.
The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad.
The computer generated copy of such order shall be self attested by the counsel of the party concerned.
The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
Order Date :- 17.8.2021 ssm