Allahabad High Court
Ameen Khan vs State Of U.P. And Another on 21 February, 2023
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?Court No. - 93 Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 7959 of 2022 Appellant :- Ameen Khan Respondent :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Appellant :- Atul Kumar Pandey Counsel for Respondent :- G.A. Hon'ble Surendra Singh-I,J.
Heard Sri Atul Kumar Pandey, learned counsel for the appellant, Sri Laxman Prasad, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.
Notice on respondent no. 2 has been sufficiently served.
The present criminal appeal under Section 14-A(2) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 has been filed against the order dated 14.10.2022 passed by Exclusive Special Court/ASJ-III, Maharajganj, whereby the learned Judge has rejected the Bail Application No. 1494 of 2022 (Ameen Khan Vs. State of U.P.) moved on behalf of the appellant in Case Crime No. 144 of 2022 under Sections 363, 506 I.P.C. & Section 3(2)(V) of S.C./S.T. (P.A.) Act, Police Station- Nautanwa, District- Maharajganj.
According to prosecution case, the appellant-accused enticed away the minor daughter of informant on 25.07.2022. The informant submitted the written report on 01.08.2022 which was registered as Case Crime No. 144 of 2022 under Sections 363, 506 I.P.C. & Section 3(2)(V) of S.C./S.T. (P.A.) Act. Her daughter returned to her home on 26.07.2022 and her statement u/s 164 Cr.P.C. was recorded on 05.08.2022.
It has been submitted on behalf of the appellant that :-
(i) the appellant has been falsely implicated in the present case;
(ii) that the victim in her statement u/s 164 Cr.P.C. has not supported the prosecution case. She has stated that she had affair with the appellant for the last one year and she had willingly left her house as she wanted to marry the appellant but her parents were not ready to marry her to the appellant;
(iii) the appellant is in jail since 25.08.2022 and has explained his criminal history of one case in paragraph no. 20 of the affidavit filed in support of the bail application. In case he is enlarged on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail.
Per contra, learned A.G.A. for the State has opposed the prayer for bail of the appellant. However, he could not dispute the aforesaid factum of the case as argued by the learned counsel for the appellant.
Considering the submissions made on behalf of the learned counsel for the appellant and learned A.G.A., facts and circumstances of the case, statements of the informant/victim u/s 161 and 164 Cr.P.C. and that of other witnesses u/s 161 Cr.P.C., period of incarceration undergone by the appellant and the fact that appellant has no criminal history to his credit but without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this Court is of the opinion that the appellant has made out a case for bail.
Accordingly, the appeal is hereby allowed. The impugned order rejecting the bail application of the appellant is hereby set aside.
Let the appellant, Ameen Khan, 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:-
(i) That the appellant shall cooperate in the expeditious disposal of the trial and shall regularly attend the court unless his presence is exempted by the court.
(ii) That the appellant 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 appellant 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 appellant on bail.
It is made clear that in case of breach of any of the conditions mentioned above, court concerned will be at liberty to cancel the bail of the appellant.
It is also made clear that the observations made in this order are limited to the purpose of determination of this bail application and will in no way be construed as an expression on the merits of the case. The trial court/J.J.Board shall be absolutely free to arrive at its independent conclusion on the basis of evidence led, uninfluenced by any finding or observation whatsoever in this order.
Order Date :- 21.2.2023 KS