SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Dipak Misra, Prafulla C. Pant, JJ.
Neeru Yadav – Appellant
Versus
State of U.P. and Anr. – Respondent
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1272 OF 2015 (@ SLP(Crl) No. 1596 OF 2015)
Decided On : 29-09-2015
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – Section 439 – Respondent no. 2 a history-sheeter – High Court granting bail only on ground of parity – Not considering his antecedents and other factors – Not proper – Impugned order set aside. (Para 15, 18, 19)
(2002) 3 SCC 598; (2001) 4 SCC 280; (2004) 7 SCC 525; (2010) 14 SCC 496 – Relied upon
(2005) 8 SCC 21; (2001) 6 SCC 338; (2008) 13 SCC 584; (2011) 6 SCC 189 – Referred
Facts of the case:
One Salek Chand s/o. Satpal Singh lodged an FIR at P.S. Kavinagar, Ghaziabad on 25.02.2013 about 11.45 a.m. against certain persons relating to the murder of his elder brother, Yashvir Yadav.
After the application for bail was rejected by the learned trial Judge, the accused person, respondent no.2, moved the High. It was contended before the High Court that an omnibus role had been ascribed to him and the other accused persons that they had indulged in general firing as a consequence of which one person had died, for he had received three gun shot injuries. It was also contended that there was no credible evidence against the accused persons. The real plank of submission before the High Court, as is perceptible, was that prayer for bail in respect of 11 accused persons including Mitthan Yadav had already been allowed, and there was no justification to deny him the said benefit as he was similarly placed.
The High Court, after hearing both the parties, has passed following order:-
“In view of above facts, considering the nature of allegation, severity of punishment and period of detention, without expressing any opinion on merit, it is a fit case for bail….”.
Finding of the Court:
High Court erred in not considering the criminal antecedent of the accused and other factors while granting bail.
Result: Appeal allowed.
JUDGMENT
Dipak Misra, J.
The present appeal, by special leave, on a summary glance may appear that a victim who might have an axe to grind against the accused, the respondent no.2 herein, and further to wreck his vengeance has approached this Court seeking cancellation of his bail, possibly being emboldened by the inaction of the State authorities who have chosen to maintain sphinx like silence or decided to assume the stagnated posture of a splendid sculpture of Rome, and invigorated by the thought that he can singularly carry the crusade, without any support, for he has a cause to vindicate by valiantly exposing the legal infirmities in the order passed by the High Court admitting the 2nd respondent to bail and also unconceal the lackadaisical attitude of the State, but on a keener scrutiny the initial impression melts away and the perversity of the order impugned gets unrolled. Be it stated, at a narrow level it may look like a combat between two individuals, but when analytical scrutiny is done and the State is compelled to wake up from its slumber, the unveiling of facts reveal the contestation between the accord and the discord, the scuffle betwixt the sacrosanctity and the majesty of law on one hand and the maladroit ingenious efforts to get the benefit by the abuse of process of the Court on the other. The analysis has to be made, that being an imperative command, between the honest nidification and the surreptitious edifice.
2. Mr. Pradeep Kumar Yadav, learned counsel for the appellant, with all the distress and the intellectual agony at his command, has submitted that the High Court without appropriate analysis and even without being fully apprised of the fact situation, solely on the basis of parity, as if it is the only foundation or for that matter, the comet that has come off to shine, has enlarged the respondent no.2 on bail totally being oblivious that no accused, however influential he may be or clever he thinks to be, cannot be allowed to nullify the sanctity and purity of law and jettison the age old values “truth in action” and “the firm and continuous desire to render to every one which is due”, the two fundamental pillars of justice. The plea, submits Mr. Yadav, apart from cleverness also shows an attempt of the nonchalant mind of the respondent No 2 to engage in fertile imagination possibly thinking that the ground of parity is the real structure of palladium to bring the nemesis of the prosecution and put the Court in a situation to choose between Scylla and Charybdis. And, at this juncture, we must state that both the appellant and the State (though at a later stage) have become Argus-eyed and destroyed the ingenious foundation so astutely built by the accused.
3. Keeping in view the aforesaid submissions, we shall proceed to adumbrate the requisite factual score. One Salek Chand s/o. Satpal Singh lodged an FIR at P.S. Kavinagar, Ghaziabad on 25.02.2013 about 11.45 a.m. against certain persons relating to the murder of his elder brother, Yashvir Yadav. On the basis of the lodging of the FIR, the criminal law was set in motion and eventually chargesheet was filed which formed the subject matter of Case Crime No. 237 of 2013 for the offences punishable under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 394, 411, 454, 506, 120B read with Section 34 IPC. After the application for bail was rejected by the learned trial Judge, the accused person, respondent no.2, moved the High Court in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 25466 of 2014. It was contended before the High Court that an omnibus role had been ascribed to him and the other accused persons that they had indulged in general firing as a consequence of which one person had died, for he had received three gun shot injuries. It was also contended that there was no credible evidence against the accused persons. The real plank of submission before the High Court, as is perceptible, was that prayer for bail in respect of 11 accused persons including Mitthan Yadav had
Login now and unlock free premium legal research
Login to SupremeToday AI and access free legal analysis, AI highlights, and smart tools.
Login
now!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
Copyright © 2023 Vikas Info Solution Pvt Ltd. All Rights Reserved.