Pawan Manjhi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.35546 of 2020 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-95 Year-2019 Thana- BARAULI District- Gopalganj ====================================================== Pawan Manjhi S/o - Gorakh Nath Manjhi @ Gorakh Manjhi Resident of village - Batardeh, P.S. Barauli, District- Gopalganj. ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar Bihar.

... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Nafisuzzoha, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Anand Kishore Choudhary, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR ORAL ORDER 24-02-2021 Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned APP for the State.

The petitioner seeks bail in connection with S.T. No. 285 of 2019, arising out of Barauli P.S. Case No. 95 of 2019 dated 22.03.2019 instituted for the offences under Sections 304B, 201 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

His prayer for bail was earlier rejected vide order dated 06.03.2020 passed in Cr. Misc. No. 73149 of 2019.

This Court had called for a report from the court below about the stage of the case on 19.01.2021. The report dated 22.01.2021 indicates that out of four prosecution witnesses, only one witness has been examined on 22.10.2019. The process of the trial could

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.35546 of 2020(3) dt.24-02-2021 2/2 not be resumed because of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Considering the nature of accusation against the petitioner, I am not inclined to grant bail to him for the present.

Accordingly, the prayer for bail is rejected. However, the trial court is directed to conclude the trial positively within a period of eight months, failing which the petitioner shall have the liberty to approach the trial court for grant of bail and in that event the trial court is required to state the reasons for the tardy progress of the trial.

(Ashutosh Kumar, J) krishna/- U T