Lakshman v. State of U.P. and Another

Court No. - 72 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION U/S 438 CR.P.C. No. - 10108 of 2023 Applicant :- Lakshman Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Manish Kumar Singh,B.N.Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A Hon'ble Krishan Pahal,J.

¶1List has been revised.

¶2Heard Sri Manish Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Sunil Kumar, learned A.G.A. for the State as well as perused the record.

¶3The present anticipatory bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant in Criminal Case No.2075 of 2021 (State of UP vs. Laxman and others), arising out of Case Crime No.157 of 2021, registered under Sections 147, 148, 149, 452, 323, 504 I.P.C. at Police Station-Jalalpur, District-Hamirpur with a prayer to enlarge him on anticipatory bail.

¶4Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that co-accused persons, Smt. Pragati, Smt. Kalyani @ Kalpana and Smt. Sandhya, have already been granted anticipatory bail by this Court vide orders dated 15.11.2022, 29.11.2022 and

21.10.2022 passed in Criminal Misc. Anticipatory Bail Application U/S 438 Cr.P.C. Nos. 9958 of 2022, 11337 of 2022 and 8920 of 2022, respectively. The criminal history of one case assigned to the applicant stands explained in paragraph-2 of the supplementary affidavit dated 26.9.2023. Therefore, the present applicant is also entitled for anticipatory bail on the ground of parity. Learned counsel for the applicant undertakes that he will cooperate in the trial failing which the State can move appropriate application for cancellation of the anticipatory bail.

¶5The prayer for anticipatory bail has been vehemently opposed by learned A.G.A. on the ground that the only disparity with the applicant is that he is stated to have outraged the modesty of the victim by biting her.

¶6In rebuttal, learned counsel for the applicant has stated that the said allegations have not been levelled rather it has been refused by the victim in her supplementary statement recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. that the said assault was not committed by the applicant.

¶7Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, the evidence on record, pending trial and in light of the judgement passed by this Court in Nanha S/o Nabhan Kha vs. State of U.P., 1993 Crl.L.J. 938 and the judgement passed by the Apex Court in Paras Ram Vishnoi vs. The Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, MANU/SCOR/22410/2021, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the Court is of the view that the applicant has made out a case for anticipatory bail. The anticipatory bail application is allowed on the ground of parity.

¶8In view of the above, the anticipatory bail application of the applicant is allowed. Let the accused-applicant-Lakshman be released forthwith in the aforesaid case crime (supra) on anticipatory bail till the conclusion of trial 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 applicant shall make himself available for interrogation by a police officer as and when required;

(ii). that the applicant 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 the applicant shall not leave India without the previous permission of the court;

(iv). that in case charge-sheet is submitted the applicant shall not tamper with the evidence during the trial;

(v). that the applicant shall not pressurize/ intimidate the prosecution witness;

(vi). that the applicant shall appear before the trial court on each date fixed unless personal presence is exempted;

(vii). that in case of breach of any of the above conditions the court concerned shall have the liberty to cancel the bail.

¶9It is made clear that observations made hereinabove are exclusively for deciding the instant anticipatory bail application and shall not affect the trial. Order Date :- 27.10.2023 Vikas [Krishan Pahal, J.] High Court of Judicature at Allahabad