Ram Krishna Sarkar v. The State Of West Bengal

CIRCUIT BENCH OF CALCUTTA HIGH COURT 23.09.2021 AT JALPAIGURI Court No.01 Item No. 03 Allowed Krishnendu C.R.M. 222 of 2021 With C.R.A.N. 1 of 2021 (Via Video Conference) In Re:- An application for anticipatory bail under section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ;

And In Re : Ram Krishna Sarkar Petitioner Mr. Hillol Saha Podder For the Petitioner Mr. Sourav Ganguly Mr. Aniruddha Biswas For the State Mr. Debajit Kundu For the De facto complainant Apprehending arrest in connection with Jalpaiguri Woman Police Station Case No. 07 of 2021 dated 19.01.2021 under sections 498A/307 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, the petitioner has filed the present application.

Mr. Saha Podder, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has been falsely implicated. The other coaccused persons have already been granted anticipatory bail. The complaint was lodged about four days after the alleged incident. Upon completion of investigation, charge sheet has also been submitted. In view thereof, custodial interrogation of the petitioner is not necessary. Mr. Ganguly, learned advocate appearing for the State, opposes the petitioner's prayer and draws our attention to several documents in the case diary, including the statement of the victim lady, as recorded under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Mr. Kundu, learned advocate, enters appearance on behalf of the de facto complainant.

We have heard the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties and considered the materials in the case diary. From the seizure list, it appears that when the de facto complainant was in her parental house, i.e. on 20.01.2020, she appeared before the police authorities and handed over a cotton nighty smelling of kerosene.

Considering the nature of accusations and the extent of complicity of the petitioner in the alleged offence, we are of the opinion that custodial interrogation of the petitioner is not warranted in the facts and circumstances of the case.

Accordingly, we allow this application and direct that in the event of arrest, the petitioner namely, Ram Krishna Sarkar , shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.10,000/- with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the Arresting Officer and also subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 . The application for anticipatory bail, being C.R.M. No. 222 of 2021, and the connected application, being C.R.A.N. 1 of 2021, are, thus, disposed of.

All parties shall act on the server copies of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. (Abhijit Gangopadhyay, J) (Tapabrata Chakraborty, J)