Pre-arrest bail is an extraordinary remedy, granted sparingly, requiring careful consideration of the nature of accusations and the accused's criminal history.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The petitioner has filed the present petition for seeking pre-arrest bail. It has been asserted that the petitioner was falsely implicated in FIR no. 14/2025 dated 07.02.2025, registered at Police Station Theog, District Shimla H.P. for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 115(2), 118(1), 126(2) and 351 (2) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). The petitioner is innocent and no case is made out against him. The complaint was filed to harass the petitioner. The petitioner is a respectable member of the society. He would abide by all the terms and conditions, which the Court may impose. Hence, the petition.

2. The petition is opposed by filing a status report asserting that the informant came to the police post in an injured condition with his employer-Prem Verma. Prem Verma filed an application asserting that the petitioner came to the room of the victim on 05.02.2025 and demanded charas and liquor. Subsequently, he (the petitioner) attacked the victim with Darat on the head. The victim made a statement that the petitioner had visited his room and asked for food. The victim served the food, and the petitioner asked the victim to show the road to Tikkar. The victim accompanied the accused. The accused/petitioner picked up a quarrel with the victim on the way and inflicted a blow on the head of the victim with a Darat. The police conducted the investigation. The Medical Officer found a grievous injury on the head. The petitioner got recovered a Darat, the weapon of offence. An FIR No. 9/2022 dated 02.02.2022 was earlier registered against the petitioner for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 452, 354(A), 323, 325, 376, 511 of IPC. The petitioner was also convicted in FIR No. 46/2009, dated 29.03.2009, for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 376 and 506 of IPC; hence, the status report.

3. I have heard Mr. Prashant Chauhan, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Gautam Sood, learned Deputy Advocate General, for the respondent-State.

4. Mr. Prashant Chauhan, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner is innocent and he was falsely implicated. The petitioner is not required for custodial interrogation; therefore, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and the petitioner be released on pre-arrest bail.

5. Mr Gautam Sood, learned Deputy Advocate General for the respondent-State, submitted that the petitioner had inflicted an injury on the victim’s head with a Darat, a sharp- edged weapon. The petitioner was involved in the commission of the offences earlier, and he has been convicted in one of the cases. There is a likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence in case of his release on bail, therefore, it was prayed that the present petition be dismissed.

6. I have given considerable thought to the submissions made at the bar and have gone through the records carefully.

7. It was laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in P. Chidambaram vs. Directorate of Enforcement 2019 (9) SCC 24 that the power of pre-arrest is extraordinary and should be exercised sparingly. It was observed:

“67. Ordinarily, arrest is a part of the procedure of the investigation to secure not only the presence of the accused but several other purposes. Power under Section 438 Cr.P.C. is an extraordinary power and the same has to be exercised sparingly. The privilege of pre-arrest bail should be granted only in exceptional cases. The judicial discretion conferred upon the court has to be properly exercised after application of mind as to the nature and gravity of the accusation; the possibility of the applicant fleeing justice and other factors to decide whether it is a fit case for grant of anticipatory bail. Grant of anticipatory bail to some extent interferes in the sphere of investigation of an offence and hence, the court must be circumspect while exercising such power for the grant of anticipatory bail. Anticipatory bail is not to be granted as