The court emphasized that bail should be denied in serious criminal cases where there is a risk of witness intimidation and ongoing prosecution, as established in relevant Supreme Court precedents.

JUDGMENT :

(Rakesh Kainthla, J.)

The petitioner has filed the present petition for seeking regular bail. It has been asserted that the petitioner was arrested vide F.I.R. No. 150 of 2022, dated 27.10.2022, for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (in short ‘IPC’) and Section 27 of Arms Act. The petitioner is innocent and he was falsely implicated. The police have filed the charge sheet before the Court. The petitioner has been in custody for more than two years. The prosecution has examined 05 witnesses out of 61 witnesses cited by it. The matter was listed before the learned Trial Court on 19.02.2025 and 20.02.2025. The petitioner 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 police received information that the dead body of Harbhajan Singh was lying in the bushes. The police reached the spot. The informant-Balwinder Singh made a complaint that Harbhajan Singh had gone towards the main road in his motorcycle bearing registration No. HP-12E-2721 on 26.10.2022 at 8:45 pm, however, he did not return. The attempts were made to contact him on his mobile phone but the mobile phone was found to be switched off. Search was made for him and his dead body was recovered. He was stabbed by a sharp-edged weapon. The police registered the FIR and conducted the investigation. Police checked CCTV footage and found that the deceased was talking to Amandeep Singh and Inderpreet Singh. The police arrested them. Subsequently, petitioner Lucky@Harry@Lakhwinder Singh was arrested. He got recovered a gandasi. The petitioner’s clothes were also recovered by the police. These were sent to FSL and blood was found on the gandasi. However, the blood did not yield any DNA for analysis. The petitioner has committed a heinous offence and the matter is now listed for prosecution evidence on 29.5.2025.

3. I have heard Mr. Karan Kapoor, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Tarun Pathak, learned Deputy Advocate General, for the respondent/State.

4. Mr. Karan Kapoor, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent and he was falsely implicated. The gandasi stated to have been recovered at the instance of the petitioner yielded highly degraded DNA and there is nothing to show that it was used for committing the murder. There is undue delay in the progress of the trial and the petitioner is entitled to bail on this consideration as well; hence, he prayed that the present petition be allowed and the petitioner be released on bail.

5. Mr. Tarun Pathak, learned Deputy Advocate General, for the respondent/State submitted that the petitioner was involved in the commission of a heinous offence. The prosecution evidence is continuing. Releasing the petitioner on bail can affect the fair trial and the petitioner can intimidate the witnesses, therefore, he 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. The parameters for granting bail were considered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Ajwar v. Waseem (2024) 10 SCC 768: 2024 SCC OnLine SC 974, wherein it was observed as under at page 783: -

“Relevant parameters for granting bail

26. While considering as to whether bail ought to be granted in a matter involving a serious criminal offence, the Court must consider relevant factors like the nature of the accusations made against the accused, the manner in which the crime is alleged to have been committed, the gravity of the offence, the role attributed to the accused, the criminal antecedents of the accused, the probability of tampering of the witnesses and repeating the offence, if the accused are released on bail, the likelihood of the accused being unavailable in the event bail is granted, the possibility of obstructing the proceedings and evading the