Gauhati High Court
Page No.# 1/3 vs The State Of Assam on 10 September, 2025
Page No.# 1/3
GAHC010177662025
2025:GAU-AS:12281
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : Bail Appln./2588/2025
JHARNA SINGHA @ SOPI
W/O- NAWSAD ALAM.
R/O- MAHALLAPARA, PANJIPARA, P.S.- GOALPOKHER.
DIST.- UTTAR DINAJPUR, WEST BENGAL, P.S.- ISLAMPUR.
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM
REPRESENTED BY THE PP, ASSAM.
Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A K AZAD, H ALAM,MS S DEVI
Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM,
BEFORE
HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE MITALI THAKURIA
ORDER
Date : 10.09.2025.
Heard Mr. A.K. Azad, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. K.K. Das, learned Additional Public Prosecutor, Assam for the State respondent.
This is an application under Section 483 of BNSS, 2023 praying for grant of regular bail to the accused petitioner, namely, Smti Jharna Singha @ Sopi, who has been arrested on 05.07.2025, in connection with Nalbari P.S. Case No. Page No.# 2/3 219/2015, under Section 87/143(2)/144(2) of the BNS, 2023, read with Section 5/6 of the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956.
The case diary is received and perused the same.
It is submitted by Mr. Azad, learned counsel for the petitioner that the present petitioner is innocent and she is not involved with the alleged offence. It is the fact that the victim of this case came to her house as a tenant stating that she was working in a beauty parlour. Subsequently the petitioner came to know that she engaged herself with some illegal works and also defaulted in payment of the rent. When the petitioner demanded the rented amount, there was an altercation and subsequently an FIR was lodged against the present petitioner with some false and concocted case. He further submitted that the accused petitioner is behind the bar since last 67 days and she also has a one year old breast feeding child, who is outside the jail premises. Accordingly, it is submitted by Mr. Azad that the accused petitioner will extend her cooperation in the further investigation of this case if she is provided with the privilege of bail. More so, she is ready to abide by all condition(s) and will also provide local surety if she is granted with bail.
Mr. K.K. Das, learned Additional Public Prosecutor, Assam submitted in this regard that there was an order from the Court to hand over the breast feeding child to the petitioner and in compliance of the said order, the I.O. visited the house of the petitioner in search of the baby but then only it has come to the knowledge of the I.O. that the baby is staying with his father/husband of the petitioner who is missing from the place of residence, for which the order of the Court could not be complied with.
Page No.# 3/3 It is further submitted by Mr. Das that there are sufficient incriminating materials against the present petitioner and from the statement of the three victims recorded under Section 183 of the BNSS, 2023, it reveals that in the pretext of giving job and for other purposes, the girls were taken by the present petitioner and then they were engaged in prostitution. More so, she admitted in her statement that she herself is engaged in the trafficking of girls who were subsequently used in prostitution. Mr. Das also submitted that there are many more victims who are yet to be recovered and hence, custodial interrogation of the present petitioner may be required for the interest of investigation of the case. Accordingly, Mr. Das raised vehement objection and submitted that it is not a fit case to release the accused petitioner on bail at this stage.
Hearing the submissions made by learned counsel for both sides, considering the materials available in the case diary and the statement of the victim recorded under Section 183 of the BNSS, 2023, this Court is of the opinion that further custodial interrogation may be required to unearth some more facts involved in this case as well as for recovery of some of the victims, who were also trafficked by the present petitioner.
In view of this, I do not find it to be justified to allow the petitioner to go on bail at this stage and accordingly, the bail petition stands rejected.
JUDGE Comparing Assistant