The court ruled that the presumption of innocence and the right to a speedy trial necessitate the grant of bail when trial delays are unreasonable.

Order :

1. This 5th bail application under Section 483 B.N.S.S. has been filed by the petitioner in connection with FIR No.132/2021 registered at Police Station Banipark, District Jaipur (West) wherein he is charged for offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 149 , 302 & 34 of IPC & 3/25 of Arms Act & charge-sheeted under Sections 302, 120-B & 212 of IPC .

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that after disposal of the 4th bail application of the petitioner, indulgence of bail has been granted to the principal accused-Ashish Shekhawat who was the shooter and who caused the death of the deceased by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court while deciding S.B. Criminal Misc. Bail application No.12898/2024 vide order dated 20.12.2024.

Counsel submits that subsequently the other co-accused Jayraj Singh has also been granted bail vide order dated 23.01.2025. Counsel submits that the case of the petitioner is on better footing in comparison to the case of the Ashish Shekhawat. Counsel submits that looking to the long incarceration of the petitioner and looking to the fact that the prosecution has to examine in all 64 witnesses out of which 31 witnesses have been recorded so far and the trial is proceeding at a snail's pace. Counsel submits that the petitioner is in custody since the date of his arrest and trial will take its own time to conclude, therefore indulgence of bail be granted to the petitioner.

3. Per contra, learned Special Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application and submitted that looking to the gravity of the matter and allegations levelled against the petitioner, four times his bail application has been rejected by this Court on different occasions. Counsel submits that out of 65 witnesses now 33 witnesses have been recorded so far and the trial is proceeding in a speedy way so far. Counsel submits that if at all there is any delay, the prosecution is not responsible for the same, rather the co- accused persons are causing delay. Hence under these circumstances, the petitioner does not deserve any indulgence of bail.

4. Heard and considered the submissions made at Bar and perused the material available on the record.

5. This fact is not in dispute that the main shooter who caused the incident-Ashish Shekhawat has already been granted indulgence of bail by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court with the following directions:-

“6. Perusal of the material revealing that the FIR has been lodged against the unknown persons. The appreciation of the circumstantial evidence is a tedious task and it can only be done when the entire material is brought on record before the Trial Court and uptil now out of 60 witnesses, only 31 could have been examined in the trial and due to filing of supplementary charge- sheet, 20 more witnesses have been added. The petitioner is not having any criminal antecedent, except the present one. While hearing a bail application, this Court is not supposed to comment over the quality and credibility of evidence, since the same may influence the case of any of the parties. What is the undisputed fact is that the petitioner is behind the bars in this case since 14.10.2021 and since then he is in continuous custody. From the course of proceeding, it can be presumed that the petitioner is nowhere responsible for the delay occurring in the smooth process of trial. Thus, this Court feels that looking to the snail’s pace progress of the trial, it would still take a long time to reach onto a legitimate conclusion. It is also noticed that sincere endeavors have not been made by the Trial Court in proceeding with the trial to get an early culmination of the same.

7. This Court observes that the nature and gravity of the offence, alongside the evidentiary materials presented, are not the sole determinants in adjudicating a bail application. The expeditious conclusion of the trial within a reasonable time-frame is an essential consideration when deliberating the grant of bail to an accused. It is a well-