Kalawati Gowala@Kalawati Gope And ANR v. The State Of West Bengal

P a g e | 1 CALCUTTA HIGH COURT

IN THE CIRCUIT BENCH AT JALPAIGURI

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION CRM (R)28OF 2025 In Re:- An application forBail under section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 filed on May 8, 2025 in connection with Nagrakata Police Station Case No. 76 of 2024dated 27.05.2024 under Sections448/342/325/302/34/120BIndian Penal Code. (G.R. Case No. 2554 of 2024) And In the matter of:KALAWATI GOWALA @ KALAWATI & ANR. ......PETITIONERS MR. ARIJIT GHOSH, ADVOCATE MS. ANGANA RAKSHIT, ADVOCATE ......FOR THE PETITONERS MR. ADITI SHANKAR CHAKRABORTY, LD. APP MR. KALLOL NAG, ADVOCATE ......FOR THE STATE MS. NAMRATA DAS, ADVOCATE ......FOR THE DE FACTO COMPLAINANT

1. The instant application for bail is filed at the behest of the MONDAY COURT : JCB-04 ITEM : 01 MATTER : 439 STATUS :GRANTED BENCH ID : 1508 AR COURT : NANDY petitioners in connection with Nagrakata Police Station Case No. 76 of 2024 dated 27.05.2024 under Sections 448/ 342/325/302/34/120B Indian Penal Code.

2. Learned advocate for the petitioners submits that in the present case, the charge-sheet has already been filed and the other co-accused persons are on bail. He further submits that the present petitioners are women and, therefore, prays for grant of bail to them.

3. Ms. Das, learned advocate appearing for the de facto complainant, submits that the victim was brutally murdered. She submits that the victim was tied to a betel nut tree with a rope and mercilessly beaten to death. She further submits that it would not be appropriate to release the present petitioners on bail.

P a g e | 2

4. Mr. Chakraborty, learned Additional Public Prosecutor produced the Case Diary. Based on the materials on record available in the case diary, he opposed the prayer for bail.

5. Heard the learned advocates for the respective parties. Perused the case diary and the materials available on record.

6. Admittedly, in the present case, the charge-sheet has already been submitted, and the other co-accused persons have been granted bail. Fourteen witnesses have been cited in the charge-sheet, and there is no likelihood of an early conclusion of the trial.

7. Considering all these aspects and the extent of complicity of the present petitioners in the alleged crime, I am of the view that the continued detention of the petitioners will not serve any useful purpose.

8. Accordingly, the prayer for bail is allowed.

9. The petitioners, namely KALAWATI GOWALA @ KALAWATI and RINA GOWALA @ RINA GOWALA INDWAR, shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.10,000/-, with two sureties of Rs.5,000/- each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jalpaiguri. This is subject to the conditions that the petitioners shall appear before the Trial sCourt on every date of hearing until further orders, shall not intimidate the witnesses and/or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever, and shall meet the Officer-inCharge of the concerned police station once in a fortnight until further orders.

10. The application being CRM (R) 28 of 2025 is accordingly disposed of.

(PARTHA SARATHI CHATTERJEE, J)

P a g e | 3