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2022 Supreme(J&K) 5
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU
Sanjeev Kumar, Mohan Lal, JJ.
Amrish Khajuria – Appellant
Versus
UT of Jammu and Kashmir - Respondent
CrlM No. 83 of 2022 in Crl A(D) No. 6 of 2021 & CrlM No. 149 of 2022 in CrlA (D) No. 9 of 2020
Decided On : 21-02-2022
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant :Mr. K.S.Johal Sr. Advocate with Mr. Karman Singh Johal Advocate, Mr. Sunil Sethi Sr. Advocate with, Mr. Vaibhav Gupta Advocate.
For the Respondent: Mr. Amit Gupta AAG.
Point of Law : Supreme Court having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and taking note of the fact that the convict Vishal Sharma had already undergone 14 years of incarceration and that his appeal filed before the High Court was not likely to be heard at an early date, granted bail to him.
Headnote:
Ranbir Penal Code, 1932 - Sections 302/341 - Arms Act, 1959 – Section 3/4, 25, 30 – Offence of Murder – Grant of bail - Respondent has opposed both bail applications on ground that applicants have been convicted for commission of heinous offences punishable, inter alia, under Section 302 RPC and have been sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and fine.
Findings of the Court :
Court find that applicants are also similarly situated and their role in commission of crime ascribed to them is not, in any way, less than role allegedly played in commission of crime - As a matter of fact, shots with which deceased died were fired - Be that as it may, without going into merits of case and on the analogy of order of Supreme Court, Court are inclined to accept bail plea of applicants and direct their release on bail.
Result : Applications are disposed of
ORDER :
1. By the medium of these two applications, one filed by convict Amrish Khajuria (appellant in Crl A(D) No. 6/2021 and the other filed by Ashok Kumar (appellant in Crl A (D) No. 9/2020, the applicants are seeking their enlargement on bail pending disposal of their respective appeals. The bail is sought by the applicants primarily on the ground that the principal accused in the case has already been granted bail by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and, therefore, there is no reason or justification to treat the applicants herein, who were convicted along with the principal accused, differently.
2. The respondent has opposed both the bail applications on the ground that the applicants have been convicted for commission of heinous offences punishable, inter alia, under Section 302 RPC and have been sentenced to undergo life imprisonment and fine.
3. Mr. Amit Gupta, AAG appearing for the respondent, however, does not dispute that the co-accused, namely Vishal Sharma, who was convicted along with the applicants herein has been enlarged on bail by the Supreme Court. He also could not point out any distinguishable feature in the case of the present applicants.
4. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material on record.
5. It is seen that the vide judgment dated 07.07.2020 passed by the 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu [“trial Court”], the applicants were convicted for commission of offences punishable under Sections 302/341 RPC and 3/4 Arms Act and Section 302/341 RPC respectively and the co-accused of the applicants, namely Vishal Sharma was also convicted for commission of offences punishable under Sections 302/34/341 RPC and 30 Arms Act .
6. The trial Court vide its order dated 09.07.2020 convicted all the three accused i.e the applicants herein and Vishal Sharma for commission of aforesaid offences and sentenced Vishal Sharma to life imprisonment and fine of Rs.10,000/-for commission of offence punishable under Section 302 RPC, simple imprisonment of one month and fine of Rs.500/-for offence under Section 341 RPC and simple imprisonment of six months and fine of Rs.2000/-for offence punishable under Section 30 Arms Act. The applicant Amrish Khajuria was similarly sentenced to life imprisonment and fine of Rs.10,000/-for offence punishable under Section 302 RPC, simple imprisonment of one month and fine of Rs.500/-for offence under Section 341 RPC and simple imprisonment of two years and fine of Rs.2000/-for offence punishable under Section 4/25 Arms Act. The applicant Ashok Kumar was also sentenced to life imprisonment and fine of Rs.10000/-for offence under Section 302 RPC and simple imprisonment of one month and fine of Rs.500 for offence under Section 341 RPC them to undergo life imprisonment and fine.
7. The judgment of conviction and order of sentence are subject matter of challenge in three different appeals which are pending adjudication in this Court.
8. As is further seen from the record, all the three convicts including the applicants herein filed three different applications for suspension of sentence and grant of bail pending disposal of their respective appeals which applications were dismissed by the Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 02.06.2021. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied by the rejection of bail, one of the convict, namely Vishal Sharma approached the Supreme Court by way of a Special Leave Petition i.e SLP(Crl) No. 5911/2021. The Supreme Court having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and taking note of the fact that the convict Vishal Sharma had already undergone 14 years of incarceration and that his appeal filed before the High Court was not likely to be heard at an early date, granted bail to him. For facility of reference, the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court passed in the case of Vishal Sharma is reproduced hereunder:
“Having heard learned counsel for the parties and considering the facts and circumstances of this case, especially the fact that the petitioner
