Chandan Bhowmik And ORS v. The States Of West Bengal

AD-247 Ct No.01 Jalpaiguri 03.02.2023 TN Calcutta High Court In The Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri Appellate Side CRM (A) 7 of 2023 In Re: - An application for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure filed on 02.01.2023 in connection with Dinhata Police Station Case No. 406 of 2022 dated 20.08.2022 under Sections 498A/302/304B/34 IPC, 1860 and Sections 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

And In the matter of: Chandan Bhowmik and others .... petitioners Mr. Surajit Basu, Mr. Ratan Chandra Roy ... for the petitioners Mr. Ujjwal Luksom, Mr. Biswarup Roy ... for the State Learned counsel for the petitioners contends that the petitioners are respectively the husband, the mother-in-law and the brother-in-law of the deceased victim. It is contended that there are ingredients of suicide whereas the allegations made against the petitioners are in the nature of Section 498A read with Sections 302 and 304B as well as Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. It is further submitted that the father-in-law of the victim is already enlarged on bail. Learned counsel for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail primarily on the ground that the death took place within eight months of the marriage.

However, upon hearing learned counsel, we are satisfied that the petitioners are entitled to anticipatory bail, more so since one of the co-accused persons has already been enlarged on bail. Accordingly, CRM (A) 7 of 2023 is allowed, thereby granting anticipatory bail to the petitioners on condition that the petitioners shall satisfy the stipulations in Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In the event of arrest, the petitioners shall be released on bail upon furnishing individual bonds of Rs.10,000/-, with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dinhata. The sureties may be common in respect of all the three petitioners. The petitioners shall report to the Investigating Officer once a fortnight and shall not leave the territorial jurisdiction of the concerned police station during the entire period of investigation. (Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, J.) (Rai Chattopadhyay, J.)