Krishna v. State of Haryana and Another

o o o o o o o o oo INoTHEoHIGHoCOURToOFoPUNJABoANDoHARYANAoATo CHANDIGARHo o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

(287)oo o o o o ooCRA-S-1656-2025o(O&M)o o o o o o o ooDateoofodecision:oo26.11.2025o o o o o o o Dateoofouploading:o26.11.2025o oo Krishnao o o o o o o ....Petitionerooo V/so StateoofoHaryanaoandoanotheroo o o o o o o o o o o ....Respondentso o CORAM:oo HON'BLEoMR.oJUSTICEoSUMEEToGOELo o Present:oo Mr.oAashishoKumar,oAdvocateoforotheoappellant.o o o o Mr.oDeepakoKumaroGrewal,oDAG,oHaryanao o o fororespondentoNo.1.o o o o Mr.oBhupenderoSingh,oAdvocateofororespondentoNo.2.o o o oo *****o SUMEEToGOEL,oJ.o(ORAL)oo o

1.o o Theo appellanto haso preferredo theo presento appealo filedo undero Sectiono14A(2)oofotheoSC/SToActoseekingoregularobailoinocaseoFIRoNo.342o datedo 02.08.2022o registeredo foro theo offenceso punishableo undero Sectionso 346,o302,o201o&o120-BoofoIPCoandoSectiono3(2)(v)oofotheoSC/SToAct,oato PoliceoStationoTaraori,oDistrictoKarnal.o o "TooSHO,oPoliceoStationoTaraori,oRequestoisothatoIoamo OmbirosonoofoIlamochandocaste,oChamaroresidentonearoSubhasho groceryo shop,o wardo no.o 7,o Dayanagaro Taraori.o Myo brothero Dharmbirosonoofollamochandoono31.07.22oato6.00opmoaoboyonamedo SonuocalledomyobrotheroDharmbirosonoofoIlamochandofromohiso phoneonumbero9253118002othroughomyobrother'sophoneonumbero 7206699717otooTaraori,oT-oPointoandosaidothatotheyowillogootoo HIgh Court Chandigarh 1o CRA-S-1656-2025o o P a g e o|o2o o o o Karnalo buto myo brothero Dharmbir'so phoneo iso switchedo off.o Weo haveosearchedoforomyobrotheroeverywhereotillonowobutoheohasonoto beenofoundoanywhere.oDescriptionoofomyobrotheroAgeo38oyearso Heighto5ofeeto7oinchesoEducationo8thopass,othinoleanoface,olongo whiteo shirt,o lowero maroono complexion,o wearingo whiteo powero shoesoonofeet,ohenceoIorequestoyouotoogetomyobrotherosearchedo legallyo ando appropriateo legalo actiono shouldo beo takeno againsto Sonu."o

3.oo o Learnedocounseloforotheoappellantohasoarguedothatotheoappellanto hasobeenofalselyoimplicatedointootheoFIRoinoquestion.ooLearnedocounseloforo theo appellanto haso furthero iteratedo thato theo appellanto iso ino custodyo sinceo

07.08.2022.oooLearnedocounselohasoiteratedothatotheocaseoinohandoisooneoofo eyeowitnessoaccountoandotheoprimarilyobasedoonocircumstantialoevidenceoi.e.o callodetailsorecordo(CDR)obetweenotheoappellantoandotheoco-accusedoSonuo Dhiman.ooLearnedocounseloappearingoforotheoappellantohasofurtheroiteratedo thatotheopoliceohasofalselyoattributedotheomotiveouponotheoappellantobeingoano illicito relationshipo witho theo co-accused.o o Learnedo counselo haso furthero iteratedothatotheoappellantoisoinocustodyoforomoreothano3oyears,o3omonthsoando 16odaysowithotheolikelihoodoofotheoculminatingoofotheotrialoinonearofutureo beingobleak.ooThus,oregularobailoisoprayedofor.o

4.oo o Learnedo Stateo counselo assistedo byo Mr.o Bhupendero Singh,o Advocateoforotheocomplainantohaveoopposedotheopresentoappealobyoarguingo thatotheoallegationsoraisedoagainstotheoappellantoareodirect/seriousoinonature.oo Learnedo counselo haveo furthero submittedo thato CDRo doeso reflecto thato theo appellantowasoinoactiveotouchowithotheoco-accusedoSonuoDhimanoduringotheo timeo periodo wheno theo murdero waso committed.o o Lerarnedo counselo haveo furtherosubmittedothatotheoco-accusedoofotheoappellantonamelyoSonuoDhimano CRA-S-1656-2025o o P a g e o|o3o o o o hadoactuallyogivenotheomobileophoneotootheopresentoappellantowhichohasoalsoo beenorecoveredofromoher.ooOnotheostrengthoofotheseosubmissionsodismissalo ofopresentoappealoisoprayedofor.oLearnedoStateocounseloseeksotooplaceoono recordocustodyocertificateodatedo25.11.2025oinoCourt,owhichoisotakenoono record.o

5.oo o Io haveo heardo counselo foro theo rivalo partieso ando haveo goneo throughotheoavailableorecordsoofotheocase.o

6.oo o Itoisonotoinodisputeotheoappellantoisoinocustodyosinceo07.08.2022o andochallanowasopresentedoono31.01.2023.ooTotalo24oprosecutionowitnesseso haveobeenocited,ooutoofowhicho11ohaveobeenoexaminedoandooneohasobeeno giveno upo tillo date.o o Ito iso noto ino disputeo thato primeo prosecutiono witnesso includingotheoFIR-complainantostandsoexamined.oAtothisojuncture,oitowouldo beoappositeotooreferohereinotootheodictaopassedobyotheoHon'bleoSupremeo CourtoJavedoGulamoNabioShaikhovs.oStateoofoMaharashtraoandoanother,o 2024(3)oRCRo(Criminal)o494,orelevantowhereoforeadsothus:o o "18.oCriminalsoareonotobornooutobutomade.oTheohumano potentialoinoeveryoneoisogoodoandoso,oneverowriteooffoanyocriminalo asobeyondoredemption.oThisohumanistofundamentaloisooftenomissedo whenodealingowithodelinquents,ojuvenileoandoadult.oIndeed,oeveryo sainto haso ao pasto ando everyo sinnero ao future.o Wheno ao crimeo iso committed,o ao varietyo ofo factorso iso responsibleo foro makingo theo offendero commito theo crime.o Thoseo factorso mayo beo socialo ando economic,omayobe,otheoresultoofovalueoerosionooroparentaloneglect;o mayo be,o becauseo ofo theo stresso ofo circumstances,o oro theo manifestationoofotemptationsoinoaomilieuoofoaffluenceocontrastedo withoindigenceoorootheroprivations.oo o 19.oIfotheoStateooroanyoprosecutingoagencyoincludingotheo courtoconcernedohasonoowherewithalotooprovideooroprotectotheo fundamentalo righto ofo ano accusedo too haveo ao speedyo trialo aso enshrinedounderoArticleo21oofotheoConstitutionothenotheoStateooro CRA-S-1656-2025 P a g e | 4

o anyootheroprosecutingoagencyoshouldonotoopposeotheopleaoforobailo onotheogroundothatotheocrimeocommittedoisoserious!o2rticleo(&oofo theoConstitutionoappliesoirrespecti1eoofotheonatureoofotheocrime!6o o o o )heo ri!alo "ontentionso raisedo ato Baro i!eo riseo too de*ata*leo issuesoshallo*eoratio"inatedouponodurin otheo"ourseoofotrial.o)hiso'ourtodoeso notodeemoitoappropriateotoodel!eodeepointootheseori!alo"ontentions,oatothiso sta e,olestoitomayopre;udi"eotheotrial.oNothin otan i*leohaso*eeno*rou hto forwardotooindi"ateotheolikelihoodoofotheopetitioneroa*s"ondin ofromotheo pro"essoofo;usti"eoorointerferin owithotheoprose"utionoe!iden"e.ooNoousefulo purposeowouldo*eoser!edo*yokeepin otheopetitionero*ehindo*arsoforofurthero period.o o

1.1.o o The appellant is a lady aged about 31 years (as per memo of parties appended with the appeal), hence, bail plea ought to be considered in view of proviso to Section 480(2) BNSS. It is pertinent to mention herein that the proviso to Section 480 BNSS, 2023, is pari materia with proviso to Section 437 Cr.P.C., 1973. In this regard, it would be apposite to refer herein to a judgment passed by this Court on 14.03.2024 in CRM-M-11503-2024 titled as 'Ravinder Kaur Vs. State of Punjab' (dealing with proviso to Section 437 Cr.P.C.), relevant thereof reads as under: "It would be apposite to refer herein to the dicta of a judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in a case of 'Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr., 2022(10) SCC 51' , which held as under:

¶51Proviso to Section 437 of the Code mandates that when the accused is under the age of sixteen years, sick or infirm or being a woman, is something which is required to be taken note of. Obviously, the court has to satisfy itself that the accused person is sick or infirm. In a case pertaining to women, the court is expected to show some sensitivity. We have already taken note of the fact that many women who commit cognizable offenses are poor and illiterate. In many cases, upon being young they have children to take care of, and there are many instances when the children are to live in prisons. The statistics would show that CRA-S-1656-2025 P a g e | 5

o more than 1000 children are living in prisons along with their mothers. This is an aspect that the courts are expected to take note of as it would not only involve the interest of the accused, but also the children who are not expected to get exposed to the prisons. There is a grave danger of their being inherited not only with poverty but with crime as well. xxxx xxxx xxx

¶58Section 437 of the Code empowers the Magistrate to deal with all the offenses while considering an application for bail with the exception of an offense punishable either with life imprisonment or death triable exclusively by the Court of Sessions. The first proviso facilitates a court to conditionally release on bail an accused if he is under the age of 16 years or is a woman or is sick or infirm, as discussed earlier. This being a welfare legislation, though introduced by way of a proviso, has to be applied while considering release on bail either by the Court of Sessions or the High Court, as the case may be. The power under Section 439 of the Code is exercised against an order rejecting an application for bail and against an offence exclusively decided by the Court of Sessions. There cannot be a divided application of proviso to Section 437, while exercising the power under Section 439. While dealing with a welfare legislation, a purposive interpretation giving the benefit to the needy person being the intendment is the role required to be played by the court. We do not wish to state that this proviso has to be considered favourably in all cases as the application depends upon the facts and circumstances contained therein. What is required is the consideration per se by the court of this proviso among other factors." o o

1.#.oo o Aso pero "ustodyo "ertifi"ateo datedo #9.11.#/#9o filedo *yo theo learnedoStateo"ounsel,otheoappellantohasosufferedoin"ar"erationoforoaoperiodo ofo .o years,o .o monthso ando 11o days.o o +urther,o aso pero theo saido "ustodyo "ertifi"ateotheoappellantoisoshownonototoo*eoin!ol!edoinoanyoothero+,-("ase o o Suffice to say, the further detention of the appellant in custody is not required in the facts and circumstances of the case.

¶7In view of the above, the appeal is allowed. Appellant is ordered to be released on regular bail on his furnishing bail/surety bonds to the satisfaction of the learned concerned CJM/Duty Magistrate. However, in addition to conditions that may be imposed by the concerned CJM/Duty Magistrate, the appellant shall remain bound by the following conditions:-

(i) The appellant shall not mis-use the liberty granted.

(ii) The appellant shall not tamper with any evidence, oral or documentary, during the trial. CRA-S-1656-2025 P a g e | 6

o

(iii) The appellant shall not absent himself on any date before the trial.

(iv) The appellant shall not commit any offence while on bail.

(v) The appellant shall deposit his passport, if any, with the trial Court.

(vi) The appellant shall give his cell phone number to the Investigating Officer/SHO of concerned Police Station and shall not change his cell-phone number without prior permission of the trial Court/Illaqa Magistrate.

(vii) The appellant shall not in any manner try to delay the trial.

¶8In case of breach of any of the aforesaid conditions and those which may be imposed by concerned CJM/Duty Magistrate as directed hereinabove or upon showing any other sufficient cause, the State/complainant shall be at liberty to move cancellation of bail of the appellant.

¶9Ordered accordingly.

¶10Nothing said hereinabove shall be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.

¶11Since the main case has been decided, pending miscellaneous application, if any, shall also stands disposed off.

(SUMEET GOEL) JUDGE

26.11.2025 9a1een Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes/No