Pingala Devi v. State of U.P

Court No. - 66 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 46858 of 2023 Applicant :- Pingala Devi Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Sharad Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J. By means of the bail application the applicant has prayed to be enlarged on bail in Case Crime No.224 of 2023 at Police Station-Thariyaon, District-Fatehpur under Sections 306, 504 IPC. The applicant is in jail since

15.09.2023. The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the learned trial court on 05.10.2023. The following arguments made by Shri Sharad Kumar Srivastava, learned counsel on behalf of the applicant, which could not be satisfactorily refuted by Shri Paritosh Kumar Malviya, learned AGA-I from the record, entitle the applicant for grant of bail:

¶1The applicant is the wife of the deceased.

¶2The deceased was facing criminal prosecution under Section 376 IPC.

¶3The deceased had concealed the aforesaid fact from the family of the applicant and his social circle.

¶4When the aforesaid case was came into public knowledge the deceased was slighted by his neighbourhood and relatives alike. The deceased was depressed after he was shamed before one and all.

¶6On the fateful day, he became depressed and took the extreme step of ending his life. The deceased committed suicide by hanging.

¶7The postmortem report opines the cause of death as asphyxia due to antemortem hanging.

¶8Injuries depicted in the postmortem report consistent with hanging are:

(i) Nature of ligature mark.

(ii). The hyoid bone was intact.

¶9The applicant did not aid or abet the suicide.

¶10The prerequisites for attracting the presumption and the reversing the burden of proof are not established in the facts and circumstances and evidence of the case.

¶11The applicant does not have any criminal history apart from this case.

¶12The applicant is not a flight risk. The applicant being a law abiding citizen has always cooperated with the investigation and undertakes to cooperate with the court proceedings. There is no possibility of his influencing witnesses, tampering with the evidence or reoffending. In the light of the preceding discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed. Let the applicant-Pingala Devi 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 below. The following conditions be imposed in the interest of justice:-

(i) The applicant will not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness during the trial.

(ii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted. Order Date :- 3.11.2023 Ashish Tripathi High Court of Judicature at Allahabad