Allahabad High Court
Guddu Yadav @ Ajay Singh vs State Of U.P. on 6 July, 2022
Author: Shamim Ahmed
Bench: Shamim Ahmed
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH ?Court No. - 13 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 9577 of 2021 Applicant :- Guddu Yadav @ Ajay Singh Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Santosh Kumar Srivastava,Vidya Bhushan Pandey Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Shamim Ahmed,J.
Heard Sri Vidya Bhushan Pandey, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Vishwa Nath Nishad, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.
This application has been filed seeking the release of the applicant on bail in Case Crime 403/2020, under Sections 498A, 304B I.P.C. and 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station Kursi, District Barabanki.
Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant was falsely implicated in the present case.No such incident took place, as alleged by the prosecution.
Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the deceased who was the wife of the applicant was earlier married to some other person and this is the second marriage of the deceased with the applicant and the applicant is handicapped for that reason she was under mental pressure and was creating disturbance in the family and she also insist the applicant to live separately from his parents.
Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the deceased was also short tempered lady. She committee suicide by hanging herself in the room and as per post-mortem report the cause of death is asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging and there is no other injury found on the body of the deceased except one injury which is as under:
"An oblique ligature mark 30 cm x 2.5 cm present on all around the neck above thyroid cartilage in front of neck passing obliquely upward & backward along the line of mandible and interrupted by 2cm. 2cm on lateral aspect of neck on Lt side ligature mark situated 2cm below Lt ear 5 cm below Rt ear 5 cm below chin base of groove of ligature mark is yellowish hard parchment like"
Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the deceased has never made any prior complaint to any authority regarding any cruelty with her nor she has given any application to the authority prior to her death that the applicant is causing cruelty to her or any such demand of dowry. He further submits that the eye witnesses namely Pradeep Kumar Yadav, Swarn Yadav, Lav Kush Rawat and Gauri Shankar Rawat have not supported the prosecution story.
Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the relation of the applicant with his wife was cordial except some minor dispute and also the relation of the mother of the applicant with the deceased was cordial.
Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the allegation has been levelled against the applicant and his mother and other accused named in the F.I.R. The other co-accused were elder brother and sister-in-law of the applicant. He further submits that the Investigating Officer has dropped their name by submitting the final report and submitted charge-sheet only against the applicant and his mother Phoolmati. He further submits that on the same facts and circumstances, general allegation levelled against the applicant and the mother of the applicant. The mother of the applicant, who is similarly circumstanced and identically placed, has already been granted bail by this Court vide its order dated 19.03.2021 passed in Bail Application No. 2575 of 2021. Further submission is that the case of the applicant is not on worse footing than that of the co-accused, therefore his bail applicant may also be considered sympathetically and he may also be given benefit of bail.
Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that the applicant is in jail since 29.11.2020 and has by now done a substantial period of incarceration. In support of his contention, learned counsel for the revisionist has placed reliance of Hon'ble Apex Court judgment in the case of Kamal Vs. State of Haryana, 2004 (13) SCC 526 and submitted that the Hon'ble Apex Court was pleased to observe in paragraph no. 2 of the judgment as under :-
"2. This is a case in which the appellant has been convicted u/s 304-B of the India Penal Code and sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years. It appears that so far the appellant has undergone imprisonment for about 2 years and four months. The High Court declined to grant bail pending disposal of the appeal before it. We are of the view that the bail should have been granted by the High Court, especially having regard to the fact that the appellant has already served a substantial period of the sentence. In the circumstances, we direct that the bail be granted to the appellant on conditions as may be imposed by the District and Sessions Judge, Faridabad."
Learned counsel for the revisionist has also placed reliance of Hon'ble Apex Court judgment in the case of Takht Singh Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2001 (10) SCC 463, and submitted that the Hon'ble Apex Court was pleased to observe in paragraph no. 2 of the judgment as under:-
"2. The appellants have been convicted under Section 302/149, Indian Penal Code by the learned Sessions Judge and have been sentenced to imprisonment for life. Against the said conviction and sentence their appeal to the High Court is pending. Before the High Court application for suspension of sentence and bail was filed but the High Court rejected that prayer indicating therein that the applicants can renew their prayer for bail after one year. After the expiry of one year the second application was filed but the same has been rejected by the impugned order. It is submitted that the appellants are already in jail for over 3 years and 3 months. There is no possibility of early hearing of the appeal in the High Court. In the aforesaid circumstances the applicants be released on bail to the satisfaction of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sehore. The appeal is disposed of accordingly."
Several other submissions in order to demonstrate the falsity of the allegations made against the applicant have also been placed forth before the Court. The circumstances which, according to the counsel, led to the false implication of the accused have also been touched upon at length. It has been assured on behalf of the applicant that he is ready to cooperate with the process of law and shall faithfully make himself available before the court whenever required and is also ready to accept all the conditions which the Court may deem fit to impose upon him. It has also been pointed out that the accused is not having any criminal history and he is in jail since 29.11.2020 and that in the wake of heavy pendency of cases in the Court, there is no likelihood of any early conclusion of trial.
Learned A.G.A. opposed the prayer for bail and submits that as the applicant is involved in heinous crime and there is allegation against the applicant, but did not dispute that the mother of the applicant, who is similarly circumstanced and identically placed, has already been granted bail by this Court.
After perusing the record in the light of the submissions made at the bar and after taking an overall view of all the facts and circumstances of this case, the nature of evidence, the period of detention already undergone, the unlikelihood of early conclusion of trial and also in the absence of any convincing material to indicate the possibility of tampering with the evidence and considering that the cause of death is asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging and there is no internal or external injury except one ligature mark was present and the mother of the applicant who is similarly circumstanced and identically placed, has already been granted bail by this Court, and considering larger mandate of the Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Dataram Singh vs. State of UP and another, (2018) 3 SCC 22 and the view taken by the Apex Court in the cases of Kamal Vs. State of Haryana (supra), Takht Singh Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh (supra), this Court is of the view that the applicant may be enlarged on bail.
The prayer for bail is granted. The application is allowed.
Let the applicant- Guddu Yadav alias Ajay Singh involved in Case Crime 403/2020, under Sections 498A, 304B I.P.C. and 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station Kursi, District Barabanki be released on bail on his executing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned on the following conditions :-
(1) The applicant will not make any attempt to tamper with the prosecution evidence in any manner whatsoever.
(2) The applicant will personally appear on each and every date fixed in the court below and his personal presence shall not be exempted unless the court itself deems it fit to do so in the interest of justice.
(3) The applicant shall cooperate in the trial sincerely without seeking any adjournment.
(4) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal activity or commission of any crime after being released on bail.
(5) In case, the applicant misuses the liberty of bail during trial, in order to secure his presence, proclamation under section 82 Cr.P.C. is issued and the applicant fails to appear before the court on the date fixed in such proclamation, then, the trial court shall initiate proceedings against him, in accordance with law, under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(6) The applicant shall remain present, before the trial court on the dates fixed for (i) opening of the case, (ii) framing of charge and (iii) recording of statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. If in the opinion of the trial court absence of the applicant 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 him in accordance with law.
(7) The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad or certified copy issued from the Registry of the High Court, Allahabad.
(8) 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.
It may be observed that in the event of any breach of the aforesaid conditions, the court below shall be at liberty to proceed for the cancellation of applicant's bail.
It is clarified that the observations, if any, made in this order are strictly confined to the disposal of the bail application and must not be construed to have any reflection on the ultimate merits of the case.
Order Date :- 6.7.2022 Arvind