Sajan v. State of Punjab

ANOOP CHITKARA, J. FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections 175 13.07.2023 Kotwali 160, 302, 323, 324, 148, 149, 120-B, 186, 353, 332 IPC and 42 of Prison Act

¶1The pettoner incarcerated in the FIR captoned above came before this Court under Secton 483 of Bharatya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking regular bail.

¶2As per paragraph 9 of the bail applicaton, pettoner is not involved in any other FIR. However, as per status report dated 04.02.2025, the accused has the following criminal antecedents: Sr. FIR No. Dated Offenses Police Station No.

¶1178 18.11.2011 302, 34 IPC Division No. 8, Jalandhar (convicted)

¶2200 05.11.2024 52-A Prison Act Kotwali, District Kapurthala

¶347 15.04.2018 21-65-85 NDPS Act Dasua, District Hoshiarpur

¶3The facts and allegatons are taken from paras 3 to 5 of the status report, which reads as follows: "3. That it is respec>ully submited that the present case bearing FIR No.175 dated 13.07.2023 (P-1) under 'Sec)ons 160, 302, 303, 323, 324, 325, 326, 332, 186, 353, 148, 149, 120-B IPC and Sec)on 42 Prison Act, JYOTI was registered at Police Sta)on Kotwali, District Kapurthala on the order/judgment. 1 complaint of Hemant Sharma, the then Addi)onal Superintendent, Central Jail, Kapurthala against 22 prisoners including the present pe))oner i.e., reflec)ng at Sr. No. 9. Prisoner Sajan son of Ashok Kumar PID 278188 resident of House no. 660/6, Lama Pind Police Sta)on Division 8 Jalandhar, who was already confined in the jail in case FIR no. 47 dated

15.04.2018 u/s 21-65-85 NDPS Act, Police Sta)on Dasua, District Hoshiarpur and in other different cases. (Room no. 9 of Barrack no. 6)

¶4That a@er the registra)on of the above said FIR, thorough inves)ga)on was conducted and from the footage of the CCTV cameras at the spot, it has transpired that on 13.07.2023 at about 7.30 AM, about 30-35 inmates in collusion with each other gathered at Phase-2 gate from their barracks, at Central Jail Kapurthala, out of which 31 prisoners have already been iden)fied, out of whom, some of the inmates had weapons and some were empty handed. That 21 inmates crossed the gate of Phase-2 and proceeded towards security ward-E. On the way, on being stopped by the police and security forces, they scuffled with them as well. These prisons entered the Ward No. 17 of the Security Ward - E and had gravely beaten Simranjit Singh @ Simar son of Resham Singh, and his 3 companions Surinder Singh @ Jimmy son of Mann Singh, Amanpreet Singh @ Sonu son of Sarabjit Singh and Varinder Pal Singh @ Raja were also beaten. And that Simranjit Singh @ Simar was seriously injured. The remaining 11 inmates along with about 7-8 unknown inmates stopped the police personnels from closing the gate of Phase-2, so that there is no disturbance to their fellow inmates while returning from security Ward-E a@er the incident. The injuries were inflicted upon the deceased and injured prisoners with sharp edge Iron Weapon-PaH type on the head and other parts of Simranjit Singh. Subsequently during the treatment, the above said injured Simranjit succumbed to his injuries at Guru Nanak Medical College Amritsar on 13.07.2023 a@er which a case was registered and an inves)ga)on was carried out.

¶5That during the inves)ga)on it was found that the present pe))oner along with his other associates, inflicted injuries on the person of Simranjit Singh Simar in the jail premises with deadly weapons, who died later on during his treatment. The Pe))oner, on 13.07.2023 at around 7:30 am along with his 35-36 associates, inflicted serious injuries on Simranjit Singh alias Simar r/o Dhirpur District Jalandhar, and his 03 other companions who were locked up in Ward no. 17 inside the jail due to an order/judgment. old rivalry. The injuries were inflicted upon the deceased and injured prisoners with blows of a sharp iron weapon. During the treatment, the injured Simranjit succumbed to his injuries at Guru Nanak Medical Amritsar on 13.07.2023."

¶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. Counsel further prayed for bail on the ground of parity with co-accused and refers orders dated 29.10.2024 passed in CRM-M-26177-2024, CRM-M-23453-2024, CRM-M-9758-2024, CRM-M-32855-2024, CRM-M-45779-2024, CRM-M-6467-2024 and CRM-M-45324-2024; order dated 28.11.2024 passed in CRM-M-50759-2024; order dated 22.01.2025 passed in CRM-M-58770-2024 and order dated

24.01.2025 passed in CRM-M-57021-2024 and CRM-M-61814-2024.

¶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: "8. xxx xxx i. Role of the Pe##oner and Evidence against the Pe##oner That it is respec>ully submited that from the final inves)ga)on proceedings and the Final Report, and from the CCTV camera footage, it was found that the present pe))oner along with his other associates, inflicted injuries on the person of Simranjit Singh Simar in the jail premises with deadly weapons, who died later on during his treatment. That at the )me of the incident, the Pe))oner Sajan crossed the gate of Phase-2 with his fellow prisoners and went to Ward-E and beat up prisoner Simranjit Singh. The Pe))oner, on 13.07.2023 at around 7:30 am along with his 35-36 associates, inflicted serious injuries on Simranjit Singh alias Simar r/o Dhirpur District Jalandhar and his 03 other companions who were locked up in Ward no. 17 inside the jail due to an old rivalry. During the treatment, the injured Simranjit succumbed to his injuries at Guru Nanak Medical College Amritsar on 13.07.2023. He had a clear mo)ve to commit the crime and played an ac)ve role in carrying out the murder. The offence and the injuries inflicted are par)cularly serious and dangerous to life, as the murder was premeditated and carried out confines of the jail. ii. Cause of Rivalry (Mo#ve): The cause for the rivalry is that the next to the village of Simranjit Singh @ order/judgment. 3 Simar S/o Resham Singh R/o Dhirpur Police Sta)on Kartarpur, District Jalandhar, is the village of co-accused Vijay Kumar S/o Dalvir Singh R/o Bhikha Nangal Police Sta)on Kartarpur, District Jalandhar. With whom, he already had a dispute, due to which, Simranjit Singh and his brother Sukhwant Singh had beaten him up in the year 2019 and shot him in the leg, in this regard an FIR no. 20 dated 21.03.2019 U/s 307, 341, 506, 148, 149 IPC and u/s 25 of the Arms Act was registered on the statement of Vijay Kumar's father Dalbir Singh S/o Pyara Singh, R/o Bikha Nangal, at the PS Dhilwan, District Kapurthala. That Sandeep Singh @ Sathi S/o Boota Singh, who was close associate the said Vijay Kumar who was also beaten by the deceased Simranjit Singh and his Brother Sukhwant Singh along with some other associates, and Sandeep Singh @ Sabi had sustained serious injuries, whereupon, on the above statements of Sandeep Singh, an FIR no. 223 dated 29.09.2020 u/s 307, 323, 341, 506, 148, 149 IPC and u/s 3 & 4 of SC/ST Act was registered at the Police Sta)on Kartarpur, District Kapurthala. Due to their ongoing rivalry in the aforemen)oned cases, about 5-6 days before the present incident when friend of Vijay Kumar, Ranjit Singh @ Raja resident of Chakhiara Police Sta)on Adampur, District Jalandhar and Kamalpreet Singh @ Kamal S/o Inderjit Singh R/o of Daroli Police Sta)on Adampur, District Jalandhar went to the hearing at Jalandhar, then at that )me, the deceased Simranjit Singh @ Simar also went to the hearing, whereby he along with his brother Sukhwant Singh and other 10-15 associates had beaten up and inflicted injuries to Ranjit Singh Raja and Kamalpreet Singh @ Kamal in the Bakshi Khana of Court Complex during the hearing at Jalandhar. However, Ranjit Singh @ Raja and Kamalpreet Singh refused to take legal ac)on against them, regarding which, Rapat No. 39 dated 06.07.2023 was registered in general dairy at Police Sta)on New Baradari Police Sta)on Commissionerate Jalandhar and on return to the Kapurthala Jail, Rapat was registered in general dairy as well. That is why, Vijay Kumar, S/o Dalvir Singh, R/o Bikha Nangal, Police Sta)on Kartarpur, District Jalandhar, Sandeep Singh @ Sabi S/o Buta Singh, Kamalpreet Singh @ Kamal, S/o Inderjit Singh, R/o Daroli Kalan Police Sta)on Adampur Jalandhar and Ranjit Singh @ Raja S/o Amarjit Singh R/o Chakhiara Police Sta)on Adampur District Jalandhar along with their other inmates planned to beat Simranjit Singh @ Simar in jail and commited the present incident on

13.07.2023 by entering the security Ward-E with his associates Raj Kumar JYOTI @ Raju S/o Vijay Kumar R/o Mohalla Raika, Police Sta)on City Kapurthala, order/judgment. 4 Sajan S/o Ashok R/o Street No-6 H. No.-660 Mohalla, Santokh Pura, Village Lamma Pind Police Sta)on Division number-8 District Jalandhar and other accomplices." REASONING:

¶7The pettoner is not enttled to bail on parity with co-accused, namely, Kamaljit Singh @ Kamaljeet Singh @ Kanwar @ Sam, Lovepreet @ Love, Ashmandeep Singh, Tarsem Singh, Vikas Kalyan @ Nannu, Palwinder Singh @ Pindi, Sukhvir Singh, Balwinder Sharma, Sarabpreet Singh @ Sahil @ Billa, Gopal Kumar and Raj Kumar @ Raju for the reason that no injury was aDributed to the co-accused. However, pettoner is one of the main accused and had also the motve. By any angle whatsoever, this Court looks at the maDer for grantng bail on the grounds of parity with co-accused, pettoner is not enttled to bail on parity.

¶8A perusal of the bail petton and the documents aDached primafacie points towards the pettoner's involvement, his previous conduct as he is facing life imprisonment in another case and does not make out a case for bail. The impact of crime would not justfy bail. Any further discussions will likely prejudice the pettoner; this court refrains from doing so.

¶9The pettoner's custody of around 01 year, 04 months and 12 days cannot be termed prolonged, given the minimum sentence prescribed which is death for Secton 303 IPC which is one of the offence.

¶10Any observaton made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments.

¶11Petition dismissed. All pending applicatons, if any, are disposed of. (ANOOP CHITKARA) JUDGE

17.02.2025 Jyoti-II Whether reportable: No. order/judgment. 5

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on: 05.02.2025 Pronounced on: 17.02.2025 Sajan ...Pettoner Versus State of Punjab …Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. M.S. Saini, Advocate for the pettoner. Mr. Akshay Kumar, A.A.G, Punjab. ****