The court determined that the appellant's circumstances warranted bail, as they were not worse than those of co-accused already granted bail.

Order :

1. The instant appeal has been filed under Section 14A(2) SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on behalf of the appellant, who is in custody in connection with F.I.R. No.924/2023 registered at Police Station Pratapnagar, District Udaipur, for the offences under Sections 420, 467, 468 , 471 and 120-B of the IPC and Section 3(2)(va) of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the order dated 04.12.2024 passed by the learned Special Judge, Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act Cases, Udaipur whereby, the bail application preferred under Section 483 of BNSS on behalf of the appellant was rejected.

2. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the co- accused persons namely Vaktavar Nath and Sohan Singh (S.B. Criminal Appeal (Sb) No.1975/2024) have already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 15.01.2025. Learned counsel for the appellant further submitted that the case of present appellant is not worse than that of the above named co-accused persons who have already been enlarged on bail.

3. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the appellant is in judicial custody; challan has already been filed against the present appellant and the trial of the case will take sufficiently long time; thus the appellant deserves to be enlarged on bail.

4. Per contra, learned Public Prosecutor has vehemently opposed the bail application. However, he was not in a position to refute the fact that above named co-accused persons have already been enlarged on bail by this Court.

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

6. Having considered the rival submissions, facts and circumstances of the case, this Court prima facie finds that the role assigned to the appellant in commission of the alleged crime is not worse than that of above named co-accused persons who have already been enlarged on bail by this Court. This Court also prima facie finds that the prosecution has not shown any apprehension of the appellant influencing the material prosecution witnesses or fleeing away from justice, in case he is enlarged on bail. Thus, without expressing any opinion on merits/demerits of the case, this Court is of the opinion that the present criminal appeal filed by the appellant deserves to be accepted.

7. Consequently, the instant appeal is allowed. The impugned order dated 14.12.2024 passed by the learned Special Judge Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act Cases, Udaipur is set aside. It is ordered that the accused-appellant Nathu S/o Rupa Ji arrested in connection with F.I.R. No.924/2023 registered at Police Station Pratapnagar, District Udaipur, 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.

8. It is however, made clear that findings recorded/observations made above are for limited purposes of adjudication of bail application. The trial court shall not get prejudiced by the same.