Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Anarul Hossain vs Unknown on 29 March, 2023
29.03.2023.
29. Ct.No.28 as (Rejected) C.R.M. (DB) 957 of 2023 In Re:- An application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with Rampurhat P. S. Case No.169 of 2022 dated 10.12.2021 under Sections 147/148/149/325/326/307/302/435/436/427 of the Indian Penal Code and supplementary final report (charge sheet) under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure vide No.47 dated 18.11.22 under Section 120B read with Sections 147/148/149/302/ 307/ 435/436/ 460/ 201 and 109 of the Indian Penal Code.
In the matter of : Anarul Hossain.
... Petitioner.
Mr. Milon Mukherjee, ld. Sr. Adv., Mr. Indranil Chandra, Mr. Rahul Ganguly, Mr. Raja Biswas, Mr. Ashirbad Sarkar, Mr. Abhijit Sarkar.
...for the Petitioner.
Mr. Dhiraj Trivedi, ld. DSGI, Mr. Amajit De, Spl. P.P. ...for the CBI.
Mr. Swapan Banerjee, Mr. Suman De.
...for the State.
Petitioner is in custody for a year. He submits he was not present at the spot and did not play any role in setting the houses on fire which resulted in the death of seven individuals. Allegation of conspiracy levelled against the petitioner is also not supported by cogent materials. He was not named in the FIR. Prosecution proposes to examine over 100 witnesses. There is no possibility of the trial commencing in the near future. He prays for bail.
2Learned Deputy Solicitor General opposes the bail prayer. He submits the present case involves the horrendous murder of seven individuals most of whom were women and children. They were burnt alive at their residences. This was in retaliation to the murder of one Bhadu Sk. Petitioner is a close associate of Bhadu Sk. He went to the hospital and exhorted his followers to take revenge on Sonu Sk. and his family members. Pursuant thereto, co-accuseds went to the residence of Sonu Sk and his associates and burnt them alive.
We have considered the rival submissions at the Bar. Petitioner is alleged to be a mastermind of the crime. One Bhadu Sk., a Panchayat Upa-Prodhan had been murdered. His associates suspected the involvement of his opponent Sonu Sk. in the murder. Petitioner is the President of the district unit of the ruling political party. He was closely associated with Bhadu Sk. He went to the hospital and exhorted his followers to teach a lesson to the suspect viz., Sonu Sk. and his family members. Pursuant thereto, his followers went to the residence of Sonu Sk. and his associates and burnt the inmates alive. There are prima facie materials to establish the involvement of the petitioner in the genocide. It is also alleged petitioner had not taken steps to arrange for police assistance immediately after the incident. But for his patronage, other accuseds would not have felt emboldened to commit the murders. In view of the aforesaid incriminating materials implicating the petitioner and the gravity of the offence involving loss of seven innocent lives, we do not consider it prudent to release him on bail. 3
Accordingly, the prayer for bail of the petitioner is rejected.
We are informed further investigation is in progress and commitment has not been made. We request the investigating agency as well as the learned Magistrate to take prompt steps to supply documents to the accused persons before the Court and commit the case to the Court of Sessions at the earliest.
Parties shall communicate this order to the learned Magistrate for due compliance.
(Ajay Kumar Gupta, J.) (Joymalya Bagchi, J.)