Santosh Kumar v. State of Haryana

ANOOP CHITKARA, J. FIR No. Dated Police Sta1on Sec1ons 341 08.09.2024 Tosham, Dis/. Bhiwani 25(1) (a) of Arms Act

¶1The pettoner apprehending arrest in the FIR captoned above has come up before this Court under Secton 482 of Bharatya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking antcipatory bail.

¶2In paragraph 11 of the bail petton, the accused declares that he has no criminal antecedents.

¶3The facts of the case are being taken from translated copy of FIR annexed with the bail petton as Annexure P-1, which reads as follows: "To, The Staton House Officer, Police Staton Tosham. Jai Hind. Today I, ASI along with head constable Vinod Kumar no. 786, along with constable Mani Ram no. 305 were in Government Vehicle bearing registraton number HR-16GV-3122, which was being driven by EHC Vinod no. 862 and were present at Isharwal turn in connecton with crime investgaton. That one person was seen standing there. On seeing the police party, he started walking with fast steps, then I, ASI, with the help of fellow colleagues caught him and gave full introducton of my team. His whereabouts were enquired, and then he disclose his name as Karan Singh, son of Inderraj, resident of Isharwal. On carrying out search of the order/judgment. 1 pant worn by him, then from the right pocket one country made pistol 12 bore and from the le7 pocket three live cartridges were found. They were checked a7er opening then the chamber of the pistol was found empty. On asking of the license of the above said country made pistol from above said Karan Singh, then he was not able to present any license. Separate memo was prepared on the paper of country made pistol and it was measured, then the length of the barrel comes out as 17.5 CM, length of body comes out as 16.3 CM and length of bu8 comes out as 10 CM. Separate memo of three cartridges was also prepared. Panda of country made pistol along with three live cartridges of 12 bore was prepared and Panda was stamped with stamp SS. Stamp a7er use was handed over to head Constable Vinod Kumar number 786. Recovered country made pistol along with Panda of cartridges were taken into police custody as evidence through separate memo. I, ASI got conducted the videography of the incident through EHC Vinod no. 862 and the memo was signed by accused and witnesses respectvely. That above said accused Karan Singh has commi8ed an offence under secton 25(1)a-54-59 Arms Act by keeping in possession illegal country made pistol along with cartridges without license. Informaton is wri8en and is being sent through Constable Mani Ram no. 305 to Police Staton Tosham. Second investgaton officer be sent on spot and I, ASI along with fellow colleagues and accused and case property is present on the spot."

¶4The pettoner's counsel prays for bail by imposing any stringent conditons and contends that further pre-trial incarceraton would cause an irreversible injustce to the pettoner and his family.

¶5The State's counsel opposes bail and refers to the status report.

¶6It would be appropriate to refer to the following portons of the status report, which read as follows: "6. That the role of the present pettoner is that the present pettoner had supplied country made pistol and four alive cartridges to the co-accused namely Karan Singh and co-accused Karan Singh disclose the name of present pettoner in his disclosure statement and stated that he had started a Dhaba in the name of Karna in Katwar Road, Isharwal and Surender son of Dharampal of my village used to come to me on the Dhaba. In the year 2016 Surender son of Dharampal, resident of Isharwal order/judgment. 2 came to his Dhaba and quarreled with him and beat him up and threatened to kill him. Since then, holding a grudge, Surender had tried to fight with him several tmes. He became friends with Santosh Jagra resident of Gangwa in the year 2013. He and his friend Santosh Jagra used to have our own tempo in Hisar which we used to run on rent. Then in the year 2016, he sold his tempo and opened a hotel by the name of Karna. Then he told his friend Santosh Jagra resident of Gangwa about his reputaton that he had enemies in his village and he need a pistol on that Santosh told him that he will get him pistol but it will cost Rs.10,000. He agreed and 7/8 months ago his friend Santosh called him to Hisar and brought him a pistol and 4 live cartridges. In exchange for which he gave Rs. 10,000 to his friend Santosh. He tested the pistol by firing one cartridge to check it. The remaining 3 cartridges and a pistol were recovered by the police. That the interrogaton of the present pettoner may be required to arrive at the root of the ma8er in order to ascertain the source from which the arms and ammuniton were procured." REASONING:

¶7Pre-trial incarceraton should not be a replica of post-convicton sentencing. The evidence might be prima facie sufficient to launch prosecuton or to frame charges, but this Court is not considering the evidence at that stage but is analyzing it for the stage of antcipatory bail. An analysis of the above does not justfy custodial interrogaton or pre-trial incarceraton.

¶8Given the above, the penal provisions invoked coupled with the primafacie analysis of the nature of allegatons, weapon already recovered and the other factors peculiar to this case, there would be no justfiability for custodial interrogaton or the pre-trial incarceraton at this stage. Without commentng on the case's merits, in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, and for the reasons mentoned above, the pettoner makes a case for bail.

¶9The investgaton indicates that the pettoner is not the main accused, so the pettoner's bail shall not be treated as a precedent for grantng bail to the other co-accused with a higher role.

¶10Given above, provided the pettoner is not required in any other case, the pettoner shall be released on antcipatory bail in the FIR captoned above subject to furnishing bonds to the satsfacton of the Arrestng Officer, and if the ma/er is before a Court, then the concerned Court and due to unavailability before any nearest Ilaqa order/judgment. 3 Magistrate/duty Magistrate. Before acceptng the surety, the concerned Officer/Court must be satsfied that if the accused fails to appear, such surety can produce the accused.

¶11While furnishing a personal bond, the pettoner shall menton the following personal identficaton details:

¶1AADHAR number

¶2Passport number (If available) and when the a/estng officer/court considers it appropriate or considers the accused a flight risk.

¶3Mobile number (If available)

¶4E-Mail id (If available)

¶12This order is subject to the pettoner's complying with the following terms.

¶13The pettoner is directed to join the investgaton within seven days of uploading this order on the official webpage of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and as and when called by the Investgator. The pettoner shall be in deemed custody for Secton 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872/ Secton 23 of BSA, 2023. The pettoner shall join the investgaton as and when called by the Investgatng Officer or any Superior Officer and shall cooperate with the investgaton at all further stages as required. In the event of failure to do so, the prosecuton will be open to seeking cancellaton of the bail. During the investgaton, the pettoner shall not be subjected to third-degree, indecent language, inhuman treatment, etc.

¶14The pettoner shall abide by all statutory bond conditons and appear before the concerned Court(s) on all dates. The pettoner shall not tamper with the evidence, influence, browbeat, pressurize, induce, threaten, or promise, directly or indirectly, any witnesses, Police officials, or any other person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case or dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Police or the Court.

¶15In case the Investgator/Officer-In-Charge of the concerned Police Staton arraigns another secton of any penal offense in this FIR, and if the new secton prescribes a maximum sentence that is not greater than the sectons mentoned above, then this bail order shall be deemed to have also been passed for the newly added secton(s). However, suppose the newly inserted sectons prescribe a sentence exceeding the maximum sentence prescribed in the sectons mentoned above; then, in that case, the Investgator/Officer-In-Charge shall give the pettoner notce of a minimum of seven days, providing an opportunity to avail the remedies available in law.

¶16This bail is conditonal, and the foundatonal conditon is that if the pettonerJYOTI order/judgment. 4 indulges in any non-bailable offense, the State may file an applicaton for cancellaton of this bail before the Sessions Court, which shall be at liberty to cancel this bail.

¶17The concerned trial court is authorized to delete, modify, or relax any of the above conditons and shall be competent to do so in accordance with the law.

¶18Any observaton made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments.

¶19A certfied copy of this order would not be needed for furnishing bonds, and any Advocate for the Pettoner can download this order along with case status from the official web page of this Court and a/est it to be a true copy. If the a/estng officer wants to verify its authentcity, such an officer can also verify its authentcity and may download and use the downloaded copy for a/estng bonds.

¶20Pe11on allowed in terms mentoned above. All pending applicatons, if any, stand disposed of. (ANOOP CHITKARA) JUDGE

19.02.2025 Jyo1-II Whether reportable: No. order/judgment. 5

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on: 14.02.2025 Pronounced on: 19.02.2025 Santosh Kumar ...Pettoner Versus State of Haryana …Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. Vikas Bishnoi, Advocate and Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Arya, Advocate, for the pettoner. Mr. Naveen Kumar Sheoran, DAG, Haryana. ****