IMPORTANT POINT
The main legal point established in the judgment is the application of the principle of presumption of innocence and the right to life and liberty in granting bail to the accused.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Mr. Vinay Kumar Jaiswal, learned counsel for the applicant, Mr. Monu Upadhyay, learned counsel for the informant and Mr. Rizwan Ahmad, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.

2. The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of applicant, Umashankar Yadav with a prayer to enlarge him on bail in Case Crime No.468 of 2023, under Sections 147, 148, 307, 452, 323, 325, 504, 506, 427 I.P.C., Police Station-Gauri Bazar, District-Deoria, during the pendency of the trial.

3. As per the allegations in the FIR lodged on 14.11.2023 at about 12 O' clock when the informant's son was cutting grass in the field, seven named accused including the applicant reached there and stopped the informant's son Satish from cutting grass. When he refused to do the same, Rajesh Yadav instigated all the persons and hit Satish by Tangi on his head due to which he sustained injuries. After hearing the noise, the informant and his daughter Vimlesh and nephew Santosh reached the place of incident to save Satish. All accused persons having lathi danda and rod assaulted the aforesaid persons, due to which, Santosh sustained injuries on his head. All the accused entered the informant's house and vandalized it. Ramniwash and other villagers reached the place of incident in order to save the informant and his family members, seeing whom, the accused persons ranaway.

4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that general role has been assigned to all the accused persons of causing injuries to the informant and his family members, however, specific role has been assigned to Ramesh of assaulting Vimlesh and Satish. The role of applicant is only of causing injuries by lathi and danda with other co-accused persons to the informant and other family members. The injuries as sustained by other family members cannot be said to have been caused by the applicant. He further submits that other co-accused persons namely, Ramjee Yadav and Rajesh Yadav and Vikram Yadav, have been granted bail by the co-ordinate Bench of this Court vide orders dated 28.02.2024, 26.02.2024 and 05.03.2024 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application Nos.6365 of 2024 and 7244 of 2024 and 6462 of 2024 respectively. Therefore, the applicant is also entitled for the same relief on the ground of parity. He has stated in paragraph-31 of the bail application that applicant has no previous criminal history. Applicant is languishing in jail since 17.11.2023. In case, he is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in the trial by all means and there is no chance of applicant fleeing away from judicial process or tampering with the witnesses.

5. Per contra learned A.G.A. as well as learned counsel for the informant have vehemently opposed the bail prayer of the applicant by contending that the innocence of the applicant cannot be adjudged at pre trial stage, however, they could not dispute the fact that co-accused persons have already been released on bail.

6. The well-known principle of "Presumption of Innocence Unless Proven Guilty," gives rise to the concept of bail as a rule and imprisonment as an exception. A person's right to life and liberty, guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, cannot be taken away simply because he or she is accused of committing an offence until the guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution states that no one's life or personal liberty may be taken away unless the procedure established by law is followed, and the procedure must be just and reasonable. The said principle has been reiterated by the Apex Court in Satyendra Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and another, 2022 (10) SCC 51. Learned AGA has not shown any exceptional circumstances which would warrant denial of bail to the applicant.

7. It is settled principle of law that the object of bail is to secure the attendance of the accused at the trial. No material particulars or circumstances sugges