The right to a speedy trial is a fundamental right, and prolonged pre-conviction detention is unjustified, necessitating bail unless extraordinary circumstances are present.

ORDER :

Farjand Ali, J.

1. The jurisdiction of this Court has been invoked by way of filing an application under Section 439 Cr.P.C. at the instance of accused-petitioner. The requisite details of the matter are tabulated herein below :

2. It is contended on behalf of the accused-petitioner that no case for the alleged offences is made out against him and his incarceration is not warranted. There are no factors at play in the case at hand that may work against grant of bail to the accused-petitioner and he has been made an accused based on conjectures and surmises. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that the co-accused Vishnu and Manvendra @ Monu have already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 02.02.2024. He further submits that case of the petitioner is not distinguishable with that of the case of the aforesaid co-accused who have already been enlarged on bail.

3. Contrary to the submissions of learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Public Prosecutor opposes the bail application and submits that the present case is not fit for enlargement of accused on bail.

4. I have considered the submissions made by both the parties and have perused the material available on record. Co-accused Vishnu and Manvendra @ Monu have already been enlarged on bail vide order dated 02.02.2024 passed in S.B. Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos.14721/2022 & 10520/2023. The relevant part of the said order is being reproduced as under :-

5. Perusal of the material available on record revealing that on 05.08.2020 an unlawful assembly was constituted by the accused persons (applicants-petitioners herein) along with the other accused persons and in furtherance thereof with a common intention to make an assault over the victim’s family. The victim Kartar Singh was brutally beaten up as a consequence of which he succumbed to death. Some of the members of the victim’s family received number of injuries. The postmortem report of the deceased Kartar Singh revealing four incised wounds and one bruise; the Medical Board has opined the cause of death of Kartar Singh to be the injuries sustained to left upper limb and its internal manifestation by blunt weapon as well injury on both lower limb and it’s internal manifestation by sharp force leading to haemorregic shock and the same were sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature. The petitioners Manvendra @ Monu and Vishnu Singh were arrested on 05.08.2020 and 07.02.2022 and since then, they are behind the bars. The certified copies of the order sheets made available by the counsel reflecting that there is no progress in the trial and as many as 30 witnesses have been projected by the prosecution. It is beyond any expectation that within how much time the trial would reach to a legitimate conclusion. As a mater of fact, two accused persons namely Aditya @ Rishi and Tej Singh have been enlarged on bail by the Coordinate Benches of this Court vide separate orders dated 24.03.2021 & 17.02.2021 passed in SB Criminal Misc. Bail Appln. Nos.4024/2021 & 1330/2021.

6. As mentioned above, more than three years have elapsed and there is no progress in the trial and as such, the fundamental right of the accused guaranteed to him by the Constitution in respect of his personal liberty has been infringed. As per the rule of Criminal Jurisprudence; the pre-conviction detention is not warranted. Whenever, looking to the nature and gravity of the offence, a person is kept behind the bars, the only purpose would be to provide reasonable time to the prosecution to adduce evidence in support of the