The court determined that the appellant's case was not distinguishable from co-accused granted bail, leading to the conclusion that bail should be granted without evidence of witness tampering or flight risk.

Order :

1. The instant appeal has been filed under Section 14A SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on behalf of the appellant, who is in custody in connection with F.I.R. No.260/2024 registered at Police Station Shastri Nagar, District Jodhpur, for the offences under Sections 109(1) & 3(5) of the BNS and Section 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the order dated 14.02.2025 passed by the learned Special Judge Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act Cases, Jodhpur Metropolitan whereby, the bail application preferred under Section 483 of BNSS on behalf of the appellant was rejected.

2. Heard learned counsel for the parties at Bar and perused the material available on record.

3. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that co-accused Altmas has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 06.02.2025 in Criminal Appeal (Sb) No.1996/2024 and an another co-accused Kabir has already been enlarged on bail by the competent Criminal Court. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the case of present petitioner is not distinguishable from that of above named co-accused persons, who have already been enlarged on bail.

4. Lastly, learned counsel submitted that the appellant is in custody; the challan has already been filed against the appellant before the competent Criminal Court and trial of the case will take sufficiently long time to be concluded, therefore, the benefit of bail may be granted to the accused-appellant.

5. Per Contra, learned Public Prosecutor and learned counsel for the complainant have vehemently opposed the prayer for bail. However, they were not in a position to refute the fact that the above named co-accused persons have already been enlarged on bail. Having regard to the entirety of facts and circumstances as available on record and upon a consideration of the arguments advanced at Bar, this Court prima facie finds that the case of the present petitioner is not distinguishable from that of the above named co-accused persons who have already been enlarged on bail by this Court and the prosecution has not shown any apprehension of appellant influencing the material prosecution witnesses of the case or fleeing away from justice, in case he is enlarged on bail by this Court.

6. Thus, this Court is inclined to enlarge the appellant on bail.

7. Consequently, the instant appeal is allowed. The impugned order dated 14.02.2025 passed by the learned Special Judge Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act Cases, Jodhpur is set aside. It is ordered that the accused-appellant Faraj S/o Shri Sannaulla arrested in connection with F.I.R. No.260/2024 registered at Police Station Shastri Nagar, District Jodhpur, shall be released on bail; provided he furnishes a personal bond of Rs. 50,000/- and two surety bonds of Rs. 25,000/- each to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court with the stipulation to appear before that Court on all dates of hearing and as and when called upon to do so.