Punjab-Haryana High Court
Sahil Birla @ Sahil Virla vs State Of Punjab on 27 September, 2024
Author: Anoop Chitkara
Bench: Anoop Chitkara
Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:129879
CRM-M-40798-2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
CRM-M-40798-2023
Reserved on: 20.09.2024
Pronounced on: 27.09.2024
Sahil Birla @ Sahil Virla ...Pe oner
Versus
State of Punjab ...Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA
Present: Mr. Ishnoor Singh, Advocate, for the pe oner.
Mr. Jasjit Singh, DAG, Punjab.
Mr. Ramnish Puri, Advocate,
for the complainant.
****
ANOOP CHITKARA, J.
FIR No. Dated Police Sta0on Sec0ons 114 15.07.2020 Division No.2, District 302, 341, 186, 353, 506, 148, 149
Police Commissionerate, IPC (Sec on 120-B IPC and Sec on Ludhiana 3 of the Preven on of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 added later on)
1. The pe oner incarcerated in the FIR cap oned above had come up before this Court under Sec on 439 CrPC, 1973, seeking regular bail.
2. In paragraph 28 of the bail pe on, the accused declares that he has no criminal antecedents.
3. The facts and allega ons are being taken from the translated copy of FIR, annexed to this pe on, which reads as follows:
"Statement of Rajvir son of Balwant resident of House No.3170, EWS Colony, Tejpur Road, Ludhiana. Age about 36 years. Mobile No.8427938225 has stated that I am resident of the above stated address and do the work of driving. On 14-7-22 at around 9.30 PM my brother-in- law Sumit Kumar was standing near the house in his neighbourhood when Sahil @ Sorpi S/o Mitarpal, Ankur and two or three unknown boys came, among them Sahil @ Sorpi hit Sumit Kumar on the right side of the head with a bo9le due to which Sumit Kumar started bleeding. Then I and Sawan Kumar took the motorcycle and took Sumit Kumar to Civil Hospital Ludhiana for treatment. I took Sumit Kumar and came to the emergency 1 1 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 20-10-2024 21:31:01 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:129879 CRM-M-40798-2023 room. Then Sawan Kumar stood outside the emergency room. It was around 11.25 PM that Vishal S/O Suresh Kumar, Sahil @ Sorpi S/O Mitrapal, Abhishek @ Khaichu S/O Pradeep Kumar, Ankur, Manu S/O Mandar, Vikas S/O Netarpal, Sahil S/O Veer Singh and 8-10 other uniden;fied boys all of whom holding kirpans and daatar. Who came and surrounded Sawan Kumar then Sawan Kumar rushed to the civil hospital emergency to save his life. Then Vishal, Sahil@Sorpi, Abhishek, Ankur, Manu, Vikas, Sahil and other unknown boys armed with Musalla Kripana and Daatentered the emergency room behind Sawan Kumar giving/shou;ng lalakara, "the brother-in-law has to be killed today".
Seeing them, Sawan Kumar tried to close the glass door of the emergency room then Vishal broke the glass of the door by striking it with kirpan. As soon as they entered, Sawan Kumar was a9acked with a sharp weapon and at that ;me the work of doctors and nurses was interrupted. Vishal inflicted the kirpan blows several ;mes on Sawan Kumar which hit his neck, head and right hand, then Sorpi, Abhishek, Ankur, Vikas, Sahil, Mannu inflicted blows of the kirpan and daat held in their hands on Sawan Kumar several ;mes which hit himon the head, neck, then all these people escaped with weapons threatening them. Then I and Sumit Kumar arranged an ambulance and brought Sawan Kumar to CMC Hospital Ludhiana. In the emergency, the doctor declared Sawan Kumar dead and got the body placed in the mortuary. The cause of death of my brother in- law Sawan Kumar is enmity. That Sawan Kumar had entered into a verbal spat (tu-tu main main) with Sahil @ Sorpi, Anup, Vishal etc previously once or twice. They had started holding a grudge against him. Due to this grudge, all of them agreed to kill Sawan Kumar. The statement was wri9en and heard. SD/-RAJVIR, Taid-Dharminder S/O Dhola (leB thumb), verifica;on Nardev Singh Chief Officer PS DIV 2 LDH Date 15-7-22 Ac;on Police- Today Date 15-7-22 police sta;on official number 7837018902 PCR 5 received a report from phone number 8013700013 of 5 that a fight in the emergency ward of Civil Hospital there has been a fight. Upon which I INSP, SI Pradeep Singh 2/PRT, SI Inder Singh 611/KPT, ASI Rajinder Singh 165/FRT, HC Satjinder Singh 3323/LDH, CT Jaswinder Singh 4046/LDH were riding in Private Vehicle Civil Hospital arrived in Ludhiana emergency. Where on night duty Dr. Gurmehar Kaur was present, she said that some persons have caused a lot of injuries in the emergency room to a boy. Who has been taken from Civil Hospital to CMC Hospital in Ambulance for treatment. Upon which I INSP along with fellow employees 2 2 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 20-10-2024 21:31:02 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:129879 CRM-M-40798-2023 reached the CMC Hospital Ludhiana. Where above Rajvir was found present. Where he gave his above statement. Whose statements were records and read over word by word, who aBer listening to it and believing it to be true and correct signed his statement in English. Which was verified by the father of the deceased Sawan Kumar, Dharamender. Which was verified by I INSP. The case is found to be made out under Sec;on 302, 341, 148, 149, 353, 506, 186, IPC Sec 3 The Preven;on of Damage to Public Property Act 1984. Therefore the statement has been filed against the above accused Vishal, Sahil @Sorpi, Anju, Abhishek, Monu, Vishal, Sahil and 8-10 other uniden;fied persons and sent CT Jaswinder Singh 4046/LDH to police sta;on. Case be registered and case number be informed. Special report should be issued. Officers and control room be informed through W/M. I INSP along with fellows employees department for the scene of crime along with the complainant Rajvir. Correct /- Nardev Singh INSP Main Officer DIV NO @ Ludhiana dated 15.07.2022."
4. The pe oner's counsel prays for bail by imposing any stringent condi ons and contends that further pre-trial incarcera on would cause an irreversible injus ce to the pe oner and their family.
5. The State's counsel opposes bail and refers to Para 1 and Para 4 of the reply dated Oct 10, 2023, which reads as follows:
"1. That on 15.07.2022 complainant Rajvir Singh made a statement with the police levelling allega;ons that on 14.07.2027 at about 09.30 PM, his brother-in-law Sumit Kumar was standing near his house, then one Sahil alias Sorpi S/o Mi9ar Pal, Ankur and 2/3 unknown persons came there. The said Sahil hit a glass Bo9le at the right side of Head of Sumit Kumar as a result of which blood started oozing on which the complainant and Sawan Kumar took Sumit Kumar to Civil Hospital. The complainant took Sumit Kumar in Emergency Room of the Hospital and Sawan Kumar was standing outside the Emergency Room. Then at about 11.25 PM the present pe;;oner, Sahil alias Sorpi s/o Mi9ar Pal, Vishal, Abhishek, Ankur, Mannu, Vikas and 8/10 other unknown boys who were armed with Swords and Daats, came and they all waylaid Sawan Kumar and in order to save himself, Sawan Kumar ran inside the Emergency Room of the Hospital on which the pe;;oner and the other persons also entered in the Emergency Room behind Sawan Kumar with Swords and Daats. On seeing the pe;;oner and others behind him, the said Sawan Kumar tried to close the 3 3 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 20-10-2024 21:31:02 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:129879 CRM-M-40798-2023 glass Door of the Emergency Room but Vishal broken the glass of the Door by striking Sword and while entering inside the Emergency Room, they all a9acked Sawan Kumar with sharp edged weapons and thereby created obstruc;on in the official duty of the Doctors and Nurses. ThereaBer the said Vishal inflicted Sword blows several ;mes on Sawan Kumar which hit on his Neck, Head and right Hand. The present pe;;oner, Sahil alias Sorpi, Abhishek, Ankur, Vikas and Mannu inflicted blows of Swords and Daats on Sawan Kumar several ;mes which hit on his Neck. ThereaBer the pe;;oner and others ran away with weapons while threatening. ThereaBer the complainant and Sumit Kumar brought Sawan Kumar in Ambulance to CMC Hospital where the doctors declared him dead. The mo;ve behind the murder of Sawan Kumar is that earlier the said persons had quarrelled two ;mes with Sawan Kumar as a result of which the said persons started keeping grudge with Sawan Kumar. Accordingly, FIR No.114 dated 15.07.2022, u/s 302, 341, 186, 353, 506, 148, 149 IPC and Sec;on 3 of Preven;on of Damage to Public Property Act, P.S. Division No.2, Ludhiana was registered against the pe;;oner and his above noted co-accused.
4. That the en;re occurrence was recorded in the CCTV Cameras installed in the Emergency Room of the Hospital and the same was taken into possession. From the said CCTV footage, involvement of Sanju, Rishab, Seema, Veeru and Gagan was also found in the crime and they were nominated as accused and offence u/s 120-B IPC was also added. Statements u/s 161 Cr.P.C. of eye witnesses Sumit Kumar and Dr. Gurmehar Dhillon were also recorded who corroborated the en;re occurrence.
4. xxx xxx In the first instance, blow of glass Bo9le was hit at the Head of the above said Sumit Kumar by the above said persons when he was standing outside his house and thereaBer Sumit Kumar was taken to Civil Hospital where the pe;;oner and others came and commi9ed murder of Sawan Kumar as men;oned above."
6. The pe oner's counsel has drawn aAen on to paras 4 to 9 of the bail pe on, which read as follows:
"4. That the version of the FIR itself is self contradictory whereby two incidents are men;oned where in first instance, the alleged instance pertains to the striking of blow of bo9le on right side of head of one Sumit Kumar who is the brother in-law of the complainant and the second version of the incident pertains to the blows of kirpan to Sawan Kumar 4 4 of 7 ::: Downloaded on - 20-10-2024 21:31:02 ::: Neutral Citation No:=2024:PHHC:129879 CRM-M-40798-2023 with sharp edged weapons. That it is per;nent to highlight that the present pe;;oner Sahil Virla has been a9ributed no role in the first incident pertaining to causing of injuries to Sumit Kumar whereas specific role qua the injuries inflicted upon Sawan Kumar has been a9ributed to co-accused whereas the pe;;oner has named amongst several other persons in the said version. Thus, showcasing that the pe;;oner has been named on account of personal vende9a to cast a wider net of accused in the present FIR.
5. That a bare reading of the FIR shows that the there is no consonance in the version of the FIR and the pe;;oner has been implicated due to some oblique mo;ve and otherwise the pe;;oner has no role in the present FIR.
6. That the ini;al version of the FIR showcasing that Sumit Kumar was a9ached outside his house by the co-accused Sahil@Sorpi, Ankur and other uniden;fied persons. That the pe;;oner is not named in the said incident. That it further showcases that if there was any premeditated a9ack by the co-accused, the intended vic;m was Sumit Kumar. Thus, the pe;;oner has no role as far as a9acked on Sumit Kumar is concerned.
7. That whereas in the second part of the FIR, vic;m of the a9acked is Sawan Kumar who had taken the previously injuries Sumit Kumar to the hospital. That it is further stated that the accused had a grudge with Sawan Kumar therefore he was a9ached whereas he was not even the first vic;m and he had taken the injured Sumit Kumar to the hospital. Therefore, the en;re version is self contradictory.
8. That moreover, it is per;nent to men;on here that injuries inflicted upon Sawan Kumar have been specifically a9ributed to the accused Vishal who is alleged to have given many blows of sword on Sawan Kumar which struck him on his neck, head and right hand. That subsequently the pe;;oner is named in the present FIR along with 7 names persons and 8- 10 other unnamed persons. Thus, it showcases that the present pe;;oner has been named merely to entangle him on account of some oblique mo;ve.
9. That the falsity of the allega;ons as indicated above can be further discerned from the fact that the complainant had already tried to rope in as many as twenty accused in the instant FIR (including named and unnamed persons) Thus, the said fact itself assumes significance as the number of accused are not in consonance with the injuries inflicted upon the vic;m Sawan Kumar thus, story as set out by the complainant is prima facie not believable."5
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7. It would also be relevant to refer to para 12 of the reply dated 17-09-2024, which reads as follows:
12. i) To explain the role of the pe;;oner in the present FIR, it is submi9ed that the pe;;oner was part of unlawful assembly and criminal conspiracy with other co-accused and direct and specific allega;ons are there that the pe;;oner alongwith his accomplices armed with Swords and Daats came there and waylaid the said Sawan Kumar and when he rushed inside the Emergency Room to save himself, then the pe;;oner and his co-
accused followed him and entered the Emergency Room alongwith their weapons and thereaBer they all a9acked Sawan Kumar with sharp edged weapons and gave several blows of swords and daats on his Head and Neck on account of which he got deceased.
Further the role of the pe;;oner becomes clear from the fact that during police remand, the pe;;oner confessed that he alongwith his accomplices chased Sawan Kumar in the Emergency Ward and a9acked him with their respec;ve weapons to kill him.
Further the role of the pe;;oner in the commission of crime becomes clear from the fact that co-accused of the pe;;oner namely Vishal, Sahil Sorpi, Ankur, Mannu and Vikas during their interroga;on on 19.07.2022 has disclosed that the pe;;oner was one of the person who commi9ed the crime alongwith them and was part of criminal conspiracy.
ii) To explain the evidence against the pe;;oner, it is submi9ed that the pe;;oner was named by the complainant as one of the accused person, who a9acked Sawan Kumar alongwith his accomplices with sharp edged weapons in order to commit murder of Sawan Kumar.
Further the en;re occurrence was recorded in CCTV Cameras where the pe;;oner can be seen alongwith his accomplices commiMng the crime and this fact is duly corroborated from the statements of eye witnesses Sumit Kumar and Dr. Gurmehar Dhillon.
Further during police remand, the pe;;oner confessed that he alongwith his accomplices has commi9ed murder of Sawan Kumar and the co-accused of the pe;;oner namely Vishal, Sahil Sorpi, Ankur, Mannu and Vikas during their interroga;on on 19.07.2022 has disclosed that the pe;;oner was one of the person who commi9ed the crime alongwith them and was part of criminal conspiracy."
8. The complainant's counsel has argued on the following points, which reads as under:
"1. The pe;;oner has commi9ed a serious offence which carries punishment of life/ death. The offence is the most serious and grave offence in the penal statute. The pe;;oner has brutally murdered a young boy namely Swarn Kumar and injured one Sumit Kumar. The murder took place in a hospital in its emergency ward. The pe;;oner is ac;vely involved in the instant case and he does not make out a case for bail at all. Apart from this, the conduct of the pe;;oner as to being involved in a murder that took place in a Hospital also make out a clear case for dismissal of his bail applica;on on this ground only.6
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2. That perusal of the zimni orders passed by this Hon'ble Court in the instant pe;;on would reveal that it's a case where I.O was hand in gloves with the accused persons which goes a long way to show that the pe;;oner is influen;al person and his release on bail would be highly detrimental to the contours of fair trial for which the complainant is also en;tled to.
3. That in case the pe;;oner is released on bail, it is highly likely that pe;;oner will destroy evidence. Furthermore, he is likely to put pressure upon the complainant and other witnesses so as to dissuade them from telling the real facts thereby hampering the trial in the present case. The complainant and other private witnesses will be harmed in case the pe;;oner is released on bail.
4. The allega;ons against the pe;;oner are very grave and serious, therefore considering the gravity and seriousness of allega;ons of killing one person and injuring another, the pe;;oner does not warrant grant of concession of bail.
5. CCTV Cameras (pe;;oner is seen in the same), Eye witness Sumit Kumar and Dr. Gurmehar Dhillon have duly corroborated the en;re incident.
6. Pe;;oner is part of unlawful assembly and criminal conspiracy which has resulted into brutal murder of young boy and that too in a hospital, no less.
7. Scien;fic evidence in the form of FSL report also furthers the case of the prosecu;on."
9. As per the earliest version, the pe oner, Sahil, had hit the vic m with a boAle. Later on, the vic m was aAacked inside the hospital. The earliest allega ons against the pe oner of hiBng the vic m's head with a boAle are sufficient to gather his mo ve, inten on, and objec ve, and on this ground alone, he is not en tled to bail.
10. Further, an analysis of the pe oner's conten on, the State's submission, and the complainant's arguments point towards the pe oner's ac ve involvement, and that he does not deserve bail. Even the impact of crime would not jus fy bail.Any further discussions will likely prejudice the pe oner; this court refrains from doing so.
11. Any observa on made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments.
12. Pe00on dismissed. Interim orders, if any, are recalled with immediate effect. All pending applica ons, if any, are disposed of.
(ANOOP CHITKARA)
JUDGE
27.09.2024
Jyo -II
Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes
Whether reportable: No.
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