Ashraf Hussain v. State Of Punjab

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: 02.08.2022 Ashraf Hussain

...Petitioner

Versus

State of Punjab

...Respondent

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA

Present:

Mr. Sandeep Arora, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Amitoj Singh Dhaliwal, DAG, Punjab.

**** ANOOP CHITKARA, J.

FIR No.

Dated Police Station Sections 17.01.2022 Goraya, District 15 (c) of NDPS Act Jalandhar Rural 1.

The petitioner under arrest for violating the provisions as mentioned above of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act), per the FIR captioned above, has come up before this Court under Section 439 Cr.P.C seeking interim bail on the following ground which is mentioned in para 8 of the petition, which reads as follows:

"8 That the petitioner is only praying for interim bail on account of surgery of his minor son who is two years old whose one operation has already been conducted and now in view of health condition of his minor son and disease from which he is suffering another surgery is required to be conducted for which present petition has been filed for grant of interim bail 2.

In paragraph 10 of the bail petition, the accused declares that he has no criminal antecedents 3.

Ld. Counsel for the petitioner contends that the denial of interim bail would cause an irreversible injustice to the petitioner and family. 4.

While opposing the interim bail, Ld. counsel appearing for the State does not dispute the factum of the grounds on which the petitioner is seeking interim bail.

REASONING:

5.

A prisoner should not be ordinarily denied the opportunity of attending a significant family event merely because the immediate relatives, in addition to friends and the neighbors, have become accustomed to usually caring for the family members of a person under incarceration and the family is not depend on the prisoner. The prisoner himself not only longs for presence, cooperation, support, and even financial help of the family but is also expected by the near and dears in return for their support towards his family to reciprocate by attending their sacrosanct family functions, despite such attendance carrying the risk of social boycott or dejection. 6.

Without commenting on the case's merits, in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, and for the reasons mentioned above, the petitioner makes a case for limited period interim bail, subject to the following terms and conditions, which shall be over and above and irrespective of the contents of the form of bail bonds in chapter XXXIII of CrPC, 1973.

7.

Given above, provided the accused is not required in any other case, the petitioner shall be released on interim bail in the FIR mentioned above, subject to furnishing a personal bond of Rs. Twenty-five thousand (INR 25,000/-) to the satisfaction of the concerned Court/ Judicial Magistrate having the jurisdiction over the Police Station conducting the investigation, and in case of non-availability, any nearest Ilaqa Magistrate/duty Magistrate. Before accepting the sureties, the concerned Court must satisfy that if the accused fails to appear in Court, then such surety is capable of producing the petitioner before the Court.

8.

On the reverse page of personal bonds, the attesting officer shall mention the permanent address of the petitioner along with the phone number linked with the AADHAR card, the other phone numbers (if any), and e-mail (if any). In case of any change in the above particulars, the petitioner shall immediately and not later than 30 days from such modification, intimate about the change to the concerned Police Station and the concerned Court.

9.

The petitioner shall not influence, browbeat, pressurize, make any inducement, threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to the witnesses, the police officials, or any other person acquainted with the facts and the circumstances of the case, to dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the police, or the court, or to tamper with the evidence.

10.

Given the nature of the allegations and the other circumstances peculiar to this case, the petitioner shall not enter the property, workplace, and the residence of the

victim and shall also not enter within a radius of one kilometer from the victim's home during the period of this interim bail. This Court is imposing this condition to rule out any attempt by the accused to incapacitate, influence, or cause any discomfort to the victim. Reference be made to Vikram Singh v Central Bureau of Investigation, 2018 All SCR (Crl.) 458); and Aparna Bhatt v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2021 SCC Online SC 230. 11.

Immediately on reaching home/venue, the petitioner shall procure a smartphone and inform its IMEI number and other details to the SHO/I.O. of the Police station mentioned above. The petitioner shall always keep the phone location/GPS on the "ON" mode. Whenever the Investigating officer asks to share the location, the petitioner shall immediately do so. The petitioner shall neither clear the location history, WhatsApp chats, call logs nor format the phone without permission of the concerned SHO/I.O. This condition shall continue till surrender.

12. In return for the protection from incarceration, the Court believes that the accused shall also reciprocate through desirable behavior. It is clarified that in case the petitioner does not mend his ways and repeats the offence or indulge in criminal behaviour, then in all future matters, the concerned courts shall keep it as a factor that this court had afforded a final opportunity to the petitioner to reform and live a normal lifebut did not mend his ways.

13.

The conditions mentioned above imposed by this court are to endeavour that the accused does not repeat the offence and to ensure the safety of the witnesses, victim, and their families. In Mohammed Zubair v. State of NCT of Delhi, Writ Petition (Criminal) No 279 of 2022, Para 29, decided on July 20, 2022, A Three-Judge bench of Hon'ble Supreme Court holds that "The bail conditions imposed by the Court must not only have a nexus to the purpose that they seek to serve but must also be proportional to the purpose of imposing them. The courts while imposing bail conditions must balance the liberty of the accused and the necessity of a fair trial. While doing so, conditions that would result in the deprivation of rights and liberties must be eschewed."

14.

Any Advocate for the petitioner and the Officer in whose presence the petitioner puts signatures on personal bonds shall explain all conditions of this bail order in any language that the petitioner understands.

15.

Any observation made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the merits of the case nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments. 16.

The petitioner shall surrender in prison from where he was released, on or before 01.11.2022, by 4 p.m.

There would be no need for a certified copy of this order for furnishing bonds, and any Advocate for the Petitioner can download this order along with case status from the official web page of this Court and attest it to be a true copy. In case the attesting officer wants to verify the authenticity, such an officer can also verify its authenticity and may download and use the downloaded copy for attesting bonds. Petition allowed in aforesaid terms. All pending applications, if any, stand disposed. (ANOOP CHITKARA) JUDGE 02.08.2022 Jyoti-II Whether speaking/reasoned:

Yes Whether reportable:

No.