The court granted bail to the petitioners, emphasizing the lack of specific allegations against them and the application of special provisions favoring women in bail considerations.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The petitioners have filed the present petition for seeking regular bail. It has been asserted that the petitioners were arrested for the commission of offences punishable under Sections 498-A, 504, 506, and 306 read with Section 34 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE (IPC), registered at Police Station Arki, District Solan, H.P. The petitioners are innocent and have been falsely implicated. The petitioners would abide by all the terms and conditions, which the Court may impose. Hence, the petitions.

2. The petitions are opposed by filing separate status reports asserting that the father of the deceased made a complaint that deceased Pooja was being harassed by her husband and his relatives. She was not being provided with any maintenance. Her father-in-law Amar Chand, mother-in-law Banti Devi, brother-in-law Jagdish, and his wife Jai Dei used to harass her. They had turned her out of her matrimonial home. Her father-in-law had beaten the deceased three to four times. She was left in her paternal home on 29.02.2024 by her husband. He assured the deceased to take her after four to five days, but when she called her husband, he told her that he would not take her with him. He also asked the deceased to commit suicide, so that he could marry again. The deceased attempted to commit suicide due to harassment of her husband and his relatives. The police registered the F.I.R. The deceased was discharged from PGI, and she made a statement on 05.08.2024 before the learned Judicial Magistrate Arki, District Solan, H.P., complaining about the harassment by her husband and his family members. She subsequently succumbed to her injuries, and Section 306 of IPC was added. It was found after investigation that Amar Chand, father-in-law and Dharampal husband of the deceased, used to beat her. Her brother-in-law Jagdish, sister-in-law Jai Dei and mother-in-law Banti Devi also used to harass her physically and mentally. They did not provide any food to her. They used to demand dowry, and when the deceased was unable to meet the demand, they used to beat her. Once, Amar Chand, father-in-law of the deceased, demanded a fridge, and when she could not provide the fridge, he asked the father of the deceased to provide an old fridge as per his capacity. The deceased had asked her husband to take her with him, but he declined and asked her to commit suicide. Bimla Devi and Uma Devi, the neighbours of the deceased, have supported the version regarding the harassment of the deceased. The petitioners surrendered before the police after the dismissal of their pre-arrest bail petition. The challan was prepared and presented before learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Arki, on 11.11.2024. Therefore, it was prayed that the present petition be dismissed.

3. I have heard Mr. Anirudh Sharma, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. Lokender Kutlehria, learned Additional Advocate General, for the respondent-State.

4. Mr. Anirudh Sharma, learned counsel for the petitioners, submitted that the petitioners are innocent and they are falsely implicated. They would abide by all the terms and conditions, which the Court may impose. Therefore, he prayed that the present petitions be allowed and the petitioners be released on bail.

5. Mr Lokender Kutlehria, learned Additional Advocate General for the respondent-State, submitted that the petitioners had abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased. The offence committed by them is heinous, and the trial has not commenced; therefore, he prayed that the present petitions be dismissed.

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

7. The parame