Allahabad High Court
Rahul Kumar vs State Of U.P. on 19 May, 2025
Author: Sanjay Kumar Singh
Bench: Sanjay Kumar Singh
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:83843 Court No. - 78 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 36677 of 2024 Applicant :- Rahul Kumar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Anjani Kumar Raghuvanshi,Raghuvansh Misra,Sujan Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Singh,J.
Heard Mr. Raghuvansh Misra, learned counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A. for the State of U.P. and perused the record.
The instant bail application under Section 483 of BNSS has been filed on behalf of the applicant with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 334 of 2024, under Sections 7/12/13 of Prevention of Corruption Act, Police Station Phase-I NOIDA, District Gautam Budh Nagar during the pendency of trial.
In nutshell, facts of the present case are that on the basis of a video which has gone viral on social media, a first information report was lodged on 19.07.2024 for the offence under Sections 7, 12, 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act against the applicant, who is Head Constable, and co-accused Vikky stating inter alia that in the video, applicant is seen accepting bribe of Rs. 2000/- from Vikky on the pretext of getting the date fixed in district Ghaziabad and getting bail of accused granted.
It is argued by learned counsel for the applicant that the applicant has been falsely implicated in this case. The said video was made viral from the mobile phone of co-accused Vikky, which was sent to Forensic Science Laboratory for its forensic examination but as per the report dated 01.01.2025 of the laboratory, the Redmi 5G Mobile, Model 23124RN871 could not be connected with Computer Forensic Work Station, hence required data was not recovered because the same was locked. It is also pointed out that co-accused Vikky has been granted bail by the coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 10.12.2024 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 31647 of 2024 considering the submission made on behalf of Vikky that he has not given money to anyone. There is no certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, as such, genuineness of the said video is doubtful. The applicant does not have any criminal history to his credit and is languishing in jail since 19.07.2024. Lastly, it is submitted that there is no chance of the applicant of fleeing away from the judicial process or tampering with the prosecution evidence. In case he is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in the early disposal of the case.
Per contra, learned A.G.A. for the State opposed the prayer for bail of the applicant but does not dispute the factum of the case as argued on behalf of the applicant.
Having heard learned counsel for the parties and examined the matter in its entirety, I find that as per the prosecution case, allegation of giving bribe has been levelled against co-accused Vikky and allegation of accepting bribe has been levelled against the present applicant whereas it was argued on behalf of co-accused Vikky that he has no reason to give money to anyone and considering this submission, he has been granted bail by the coordinate Bench of this Court.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case as well as keeping in view the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused and submissions of the learned counsel for the parties as noted above, I am of the view that the applicant has made out a case for bail. Hence, the bail application is hereby allowed.
Let the applicant Rahul Kumar be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions which are being imposed in the interest of justice:-
(i) That the applicant shall cooperate in the expeditious disposal of the trial and shall regularly attend the court unless inevitable.
(ii) That the applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.
(iii) That after his release, the applicant shall not involve in any criminal activity.
(iv) The identity, status and residential proof of sureties will be verified by court concerned before the release of the applicant on bail.
In case of breach of any of the conditions mentioned above, court concerned will be at liberty to cancel the bail of the applicant.
It is made clear that the observations contained in the instant order are confined to the issue of bail only and shall not affect the merit of the trial.
Order Date :- 19.5.2025 Shubham