Bail is a rule and jail is an exception; personal liberty must be prioritized unless substantial evidence suggests otherwise.

ORDER :

1. RULE. Learned APP waives service of rule for the respondent-State.

2. The present successive application is filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short “CrPC”) for regular bail in connection with FIR being C.R. No.11191032240318 of 2024 registered with Maninagar Police Station, Ahmedabad City for the offences punishable under Sections 376(2)(n), 294(b), 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short “IPC”).

3. Learned advocate appearing on behalf of the applicant submits that applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the offence and now nothing is required to be recovered or discovered as the charge-sheet is filed. Further, applicant is aged 23 years whereas the complainant victim is aged 35 years. The allegation against the applicant is that under the false pretext of marriage, applicant developed physical relationship with the complainant and thereafter denied marrying her. He therefore submits that, considering the nature of the offence, the applicant may be enlarged on regular bail by imposing suitable conditions.

4. Learned APP appearing on behalf of the respondent-State has opposed the present application and requested to dismiss the present application for regular bail on the ground that prima facie material is collected against the present applicant during the investigation and merely filing of charge-sheet is no ground to grant bail to the applicant. Hence, has requested to dismiss the present application.

5. Learned advocate Mr. Darshan Dave for the original complainant has submitted objections raised by the original complainant which is taken on record. He has vehemently opposed the present application and has requested to dismiss the present application.

6. While granting bail, the Court has to consider the involvement of the accused in the alleged offence, the jurisdiction to grant bail has to be exercised on the basis of the well settled principles having regard to the facts and circumstances of each case and the following factors are to be taken into consideration while considering an application for bail: (i) the nature of accusation and the severity of the punishment and the nature of the materials relied upon by the prosecution; (ii) reasonable apprehension of tampering with the witnesses and threat to the complainant or the witnesses; (iii) reasonable possibility of securing the presence of the accused at the time of trial or the likelihood of his abscondence; (iv) character behaviour and standing of the accused and the circumstances which are peculiar to the accused; (v) larger interest of the public or the State and similar other considerations are required to be considered.

7. I have heard the learned advocates appearing on behalf of the respective parties and perused the investigation papers. Following aspects have been considered:

(1) Investigation is over and charge-sheet is filed;

(2) None of the offence alleged is punishable with life sentence or death penalty;

(3) Applicant is behind the bars since 08.08.2024;

(4) There is nothing to be recovered or discovered from the applicant;

(5) The applicant is not having any past antecedent;

(6) Obviously commencement and conclusion of trial will take some time.

8. This Court has also taken into consideration the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sanjay Chandra vs. Central Bureau of Investigation reported in [2012] 1 SCC 40 as well as in the case of Gudikanti Narasimhulu And Ors vs. Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh reported in (1978) 1 SCC 240. Obviously, the conclusion of trial will take time and keeping the accused behind the bars is nothing but amounts to pre-trial conviction and therefore, considering the celebrated principle of bail jurisprudence is that "bail is a rule and jail is exception"as well as the concept of personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, present application deserves consideration. It is apposite to refer to the