Mannu And Another v. State Of Haryana

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on : 16.11.2021 Pronounced on : 10.12.2021 Mannu and another

...Petitioners

Versus

State of Haryana

...Respondent

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present:- Mr. G.S. Sandhu, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Rajat Gautam, DAG, Haryana.

***** ANOOP CHITKARA, J.

FIR No.

Dated Police Station Sections 23.09.2020 Samalkha, District Panipat 379-B and 34 of IPC, 1860 and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of Arms Act, 1959.

1.

The petitioner, incarcerating upon his arrest in FIR captioned above, has come up before this Court seeking regular bail.

2.

In Para 11 of the bail petition, learned counsel for the petitioners declares about the criminal antecedents of the petitioners as under :- i) FIR No.1218, dated 29.11.2019 under Section 379 of IPC, 1860, registered at Police Station Sadar, Karnal ;

ii) FIR No.312, dated 03.09.2019 under Sections 384 and 506 of IPC, 1860, registered at Police Station Madhuban, District Karnal. 3.

On 23.09.2020, the complainant informed the SHO of police station mentioned above in the following terms :- He stated that on 22.09.2020, he was going from Delhi bypass to Kurukshetra along with three unknown passengers in his car. When they reached near Hanuman Dharam Kata, 6 kms. ahead from Samalkha, then these three unknown young boys asked him to stop his car as they had to urinate. At that time, the boy sitting on back seat, put a knife on his neck and the another boy, sitting in the front side, snatched keys of car and the third boy forcibly snatched his purse. Based on this information,

the police registered the FIR captioned above. During the investigation, the police arrested all the accused persons including the petitioner. 4.

Ld. Counsel for the petitioner contends that incarceration before the proof of guilt would cause grave injustice to the petitioner and family. 5.

On the contrary, it has been contended by the State that charges have been framed and one witness has been examined and the petitioner even in his custody is influencing the prosecution, as such, he is not entitled for bail. The other contention on behalf of the State is that if this Court is inclined to grant bail, then such a bond must be subject to very stringent conditions. REASONING:

6.

In Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v State of Punjab, 1980 (2) SCC 565, (Para 30), a Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court held that the bail decision must enter the cumulative effect of the variety of circumstances justifying the grant or refusal of bail. In Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v Rajesh Ranjan @ Pappu Yadav, 2005 (2) SCC 42, (Para 18) a three-member Bench of Supreme Court held that the persons accused of non-bailable offences are entitled to bail if the Court concerned concludes that the prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case against him, or despite the existence of a prima facie case, the Court records reasons for its satisfaction for the need to release such person on bail, in the given fact situations. The rejection of bail does not preclude filing a subsequent application.

The courts can release on bail, provided the circumstances then prevailing requires, and a change in the fact situation. In State of Rajasthan v Balchand, AIR 1977 SC 2447, (Para 2 & 3), Supreme Court noticeably illustrated that the basic rule might perhaps be tersely put as bail, not jail, except where there are circumstances suggestive of fleeing from justice or thwarting the course of justice or creating other troubles in the shape of repeating offences or intimidating witnesses and the like by the petitioner who seeks enlargement on bail from the Court. It is true that the gravity of the offence involved is likely to induce the petitioner to avoid the course of justice and must weigh when considering the question of jail so also, the heinousness of the crime.

In Gudikanti Narasimhulu v Public Prosecutor, (1978) 1 SCC 240, (Para 16), Supreme Court held that the delicate light of the law favors release unless countered by the negative criteria necessitating that course. In Prahlad Singh Bhati v NCT, Delhi, (2001) 4 SCC 280, Supreme Court highlighted one of the factors for bail to be the public or the State's immense interest and similar other considerations. In Dataram Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh, (2018) 3 SCC 22, (Para 6), Supreme Court held that the grant or refusal of bail is entirely within the discretion of the judge hearing the matter and though that discretion is unfettered, it must be exercised judiciously, compassionately, and in a humane manner.

ought not to be so strict as to be incapable of compliance, thereby making the grant of bail illusory.

7.

The possibility of the accused influencing the investigation, tampering with evidence, intimidating witnesses, and the likelihood of fleeing justice, can be taken care of by imposing elaborative and stringent conditions. In Sushila Aggarwal, (2020) 5 SCC 1, Para 92, the Constitutional Bench held that unusually, subject to the evidence produced, the Courts can impose restrictive conditions. 8.

The earlier bail petition filed by the petitioners was rejected by the learned trial Court. Now, the petitioners have filed the present petition in this Court on the ground that the statement of the complainant has been recorded in the trial wherein he has not supported the case of the prosecution. As per the FIR, the complainant did not mention that he knew any of the occupants of the car prior to that occurrence and that is why in the FIR, there was not any mention of description other than the number of occupants. Learned counsel for the bail petitioners has annexed the copy of the statement of PW-3 i.e. complainant/victim Sanjiv Kumar. In the examinationin-chief, the complainant has reiterated the allegations made in the FIR.

However, in the Court, he specifically did not identify the accused by saying that the accused persons in the Court were not among the assailants, who had snatched his wallet and car. On being declared hostile, he did however state that his car was recovered from Shahbad flyover. In the cross-examination, he denied that when his car was recovered from Shahbad flyover then the accused were sitting in the same. Thus, without commenting upon the appreciation of the evidence, given the fact, that the accused is in custody since 23.09.2020, i.e. for more than 1 year and 2 months, further incarceration, at this stage, is not required.

Regarding criminal history of the petitioner, one of the offence is alleged to be in similar nature but despite, the criminal history, given the period of incarceration and the statement of the complainant in the Court, further incarceration is not required.

9.

Without commenting on the case's merits, given the investigation stage, the period of incarceration already undergone, nature of allegations and the circumstances peculiar to this case mentioned above, the petitioners makes out a case for release on bail.

10. Given the above reasoning, the Court is granting bail to the petitioners, subject to strict terms and conditions, which shall be over and above and irrespective of the contents of the form of bail bonds in chapter XXXIII of Cr.P.C., 1973.

11. The petitioners shall be released on bail in the FIR mentioned above, subject to furnishing a personal bond of Rs. Ten thousand (INR 10,000/-), and shall furnish one surety of Rs. Twenty-five thousand (INR 25,000/-), to the satisfaction of the

Chief Judicial Magistrate/trial Court having the jurisdiction over the Police Station conducting the investigation, and in case of non-availability, any Illaqa Magistrate. Before accepting the sureties, the concerned Court must satisfy that in case the petitioners-accused fail to appear in Court, then such sureties are capable to produce the petitioners-accused before the Court, keeping in mind the Jurisprudence behind the sureties, which is to secure the presence of the accused.

12. The furnishing of the personal bonds shall be deemed acceptance of the following and all other stipulations, terms, and conditions of this bail order.

13. The petitioners to execute a bond for attendance to the concerned Court(s). Once the trial begins, the petitioner shall not, in any manner, try to delay the proceedings, and undertakes to appear before the concerned Court and to attend the trial on each date, unless exempted. In case of an appeal, on this very bond, the petitioners also promise to appear before the higher Court in terms of Section 437-A Cr.P.C.

14. The attesting officer shall, on the reverse page of personal bonds, mention the permanent address of the petitioner along with the phone number(s), WhatsApp number (if any), e-mail (if any), and details of personal bank account(s) (if available), and in case of any change, the petitioner shall immediately and not later than 30 days from such modification, intimate about the change of residential address and change of phone numbers, WhatsApp number, e-mail accounts, to the Police Station of this FIR to the concerned Court.

15. The petitioners 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 of the case, to dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Police, or the Court, or to tamper with the evidence.

16. Given the gravity of accusations and the heinous nature of the offence, the petitioner shall surrender all weapons, firearms, ammunition, if any, along with the arms license to the concerned authority within 30 days from today and inform the Investigator about the compliance. However, subject to the Indian Arms Act, 1959, the petitioner shall be entitled to renew and take it back in case of acquittal in this case.

17. During the trial's pendency, if the petitioner repeat or commits any offence where the sentence prescribed is more than seven years or violates any condition as stipulated in this order, it shall always be permissible to the respondent to apply for cancellation of this bail. It shall further be open for any investigating agency to bring it to the notice of the Court seized of the subsequent application that the accused was earlier cautioned not to indulge in criminal activities. Otherwise, the bail bonds shall

continue to remain in force throughout the trial and after that in terms of Section 437-A of the Cr.P.C.

18.

The petitioner shall, under no circumstances, contact, call, text, remarks, stalk, stare, make any gestures, show or express any unusual or inappropriate, verbal or otherwise objectionable behaviour, to or in front of the victim, either physically or through any other mode, or roam around the victim's home, and shall also stay away 1 km. from the radius of residence of the victim.

19. Any Advocate for the petitioners and the Officer in whose presence the petitioners put signatures on personal bonds shall explain all conditions of this bail order, in vernacular and if not feasible, in Hindi.

20. In case the petitioners find the bail condition(s) as violating fundamental, human, or other rights, or causing difficulty due to any situation, then for modification of such term(s), the petitioners may file a reasoned application before this Court, and after taking cognizance, even to the Court taking cognizance or the trial Court, as the case may be, and such Court shall also be competent to modify or delete any condition.

21. This order does not, in any manner, limit or restrict the rights of the Police or the investigating agency from further investigation per law.

22. 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.

23. In return for the protection from incarceration, the Court believes that the petitioners-accused shall also reciprocate through desirable behavior.

24. There would be no need for a certified copy of this order for furnishing bonds. Any Advocate for the petitioners can download this order along with the case status from the official web page of this Court and attest it to be a true copy. The Prosecutor shall also verify the downloaded copy by comparing it from the official web page. In case the attesting officer or the Court wants to verify the authenticity, such an officer can also verify its authenticity and may download and use the downloaded copy for attesting bonds.

25. In the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, the petition is allowed in the terms mentioned above.

{ANOOP CHITKARA} JUDGE 10th day of December, 2021 Manpreet Whether speaking/reasoned :

Yes/No Whether reportable Yes/No