Allahabad High Court
Santosh Gaudiya vs State Of U.P. Thru. Secy. Home. Lko on 31 July, 2020
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH ?Court No. - 32 Case :- U/S 482/378/407 No. - 1967 of 2020 Applicant :- Santosh Gaudiya Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Secy. Home. Lko Counsel for Applicant :- Gaurav Verma Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan,J.
Heard learned counsel for applicant and learned A.G.A. for the State.
This application has been filed for the following relief :
1. to direct the learned court below not to insist the applicant to file separate surety bonds in each and every cases and accept only two sureties in lieu of below mentioned 15 cases :
(i) Case Crime No.443/2019, under Sections 41,411,413,401 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(ii) Case Crime No.143/2019, under Sections 457,380,413 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(iii) Case Crime No.440/2019, under Sections 457,380,41,413 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(iv) Case Crime No.249/2019, under Sections 457,380,413 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(v) Case Crime No.365/2019, under Sections 457,380,413 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(vi) Case Crime No.152/2019, under Sections 457,380,413 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(vii) Case Crime No.71/2019, under Sections 457,380,413 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(viii) Case Crime No.167/2019, under Sections 457,380,413 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(ix) Case Crime No.122/2019, under Sections 457,380 I.P.C. Police Station Ghazipur.
(x) Case Crime No.207/2019, under Sections 457,380,411,413 I.P.C. Police Station Indira Nagar.
(xi) Case Crime No.210/2019, under Sections 457,380,411,413 I.P.C. Police Station Indira Nagar.
(xii) Case Crime No.254/2019, under Sections 457,380,411,413 I.P.C. Police Station Indira Nagar.
(xiii) Case Crime No.66/2019, under Sections 380,411,413 I.P.C. Police Station Indira Nagar.
(xiv) Case Crime No.300/2019, under Sections 380,411,413 I.P.C. Police Station Indira Nagar.
(xv) Case Crime No.939/2019, under Sections 2/3 Gangster Act,P.S.Ghazipur.
Learned counsel for applicant submits that though the applicant has been directed to be released on bail in all the above 15 cases but as he could not arrange two sureties in each cases, he is still languishing in jail. It is also submitted that due to poverty, applicant is not in a position to arrange two sureties in each case and, therefore, having regard to the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court they may be permitted to file same sureties in all the fifteen cases mentioned above.
Learned Additional Government Advocate has not opposed the prayer of the learned counsel for applicants on the ground that, it is always the discretion and satisfaction of the trial Court, so far as, the acceptance of the sureties is concerned.
Having heard learned counsel for the rival parties, the only grievance of the applicant appears to be that, he despite have obtained the orders of the bail in 15 cases is not able to come out of the prison, because he is not able to find separate sureties for each case, and a prayer has been made that, he be permitted to file same sureties in all the cases and a suitable direction in this regard be given to the trial Court.
The acceptance of the sureties and the verification of them is the prerogative of the trial court and the same in any case could not be controlled by this Court. Sufficient guidelines in this regard have been given by the High Court on administrative side to the subordinate Courts. However, as far as, the grievance of the applicant, pertaining to the fact that, he is not in a position to arrange separate sureties for all 15 cases, the answer to this apprehension and grievance is implicit in Section 441-A of Code of Criminal Procedure, which is reproduced as under :-
"Declaration by sureties- Every person standing surety to an accused person for his release on bail, shall make a declaration before the Court as to the number of persons to whom he has stood surety including the accused, giving therein all the relevant particulars."
Perusal of this Section shows that, a person who is intending to be the surety of any accused person is obliged to declare before the Court that apart from the person to whom he is standing surety, for how many other accused persons, he has stood surety.
Therefore, the texture of the Section 441-A of the Cr.P.C., which has been introduced by way of amendment made in the year 2006 clearly reflects that, a person may stand surety for more than one accused person and in more than one case. So there appears no bar for a person to stand surety in more than one case and also for more than one accused person. However, as stated earlier, the status, verification and the competency of the surety will always be assessed by the trial Court before acceptance.
It is therefore directed that, if the same sureties placed before the trial Court are otherwise competent and their status and other particulars have been verified, the trial Court in its discretion may accept the same in all the fifteen cases.
With the aforesaid observations, the application is finally disposed of.
Order Date :- 31.7.2020 Irfan