ORDER/JUDGMENT : – Shri Pradeep Katare, Advocate for appellant.

Shri C. P. Singh, Panel Lawyer for the State.

None for the complainant.

It is submitted by the counsel for the State that the complainant has been informed about the pendency of this appeal as required under section 15-A of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

2. Case Diary is available.

3. This first Criminal Appeal for grant of bail has been filed under section 14A(2) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities), Act, 1989 against the order dated 31-5-2021 passed by Second Additional Sessions Judge, Bhind/Special Judge, Bhind by which the application filed by the appellant for grant of bail has been rejected.

4. The appellant has been arrested on 19-2-2021 in connection with Crime No. 21/2021 registered at Police Station Barohi, District Bhind for offence punishable under sections 302, 465, 467, 471, 166, 166-A, 193, 196, 197, 199, 203, 218, 201 of Indian Penal Code and under sections 3(2)(vi), 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities), Act.

5. It is submitted by the counsel for the appellant that the Sessions Judge, Bhind by its order dated 10-8-2021 passed in BA No. 978/2021 has granted bail to the co-accused Gajendra Singh, whose case is identical to that of the present appellant. It is further submitted that according to the prosecution case, the appellant and other co-accused persons, namely, Daplu alias Omkar and Gajendra had assaulted the deceased-Shyamlal by means of Lathi and thereafter they took him to JA Hospital, Gwalior, where they got the deceased-Shyamlal admitted in the name of Nathuram and ultimately Shyamlal succumbed to the injuries. Death certificate in the name of Nathuram was also prepared, however, at a later stage it was found that in fact Nathuram had already expired on 15-6-2013 and the appellant and other co-accused, namely, Daplu alias Omkar and Gajendra Singh Narwariya had got the injured admitted in the hospital in the fake name. The case of the present appellant is identical to that of the co-accused Gajendra. The appellant is in jail from 19-2-2021. The trial is likely to take sufficiently long time and there is no possibility of his absconding or tampering with the prosecution case.

6. Per contra, it is submitted by counsel for State that there are serious allegations of assaulting the deceased Shyamlal by Lathi and above all the appellant as well as co-accused Omkar and Gajendra Singh took the deceased Shyamlal to the hospital and got him admitted in the fake name of Nathuram and also succeeded in getting the death certificate in the name of Nathuram, whereas Nathuram had already expired on 15-6-2013.

7. Considered the submissions made by learned counsel for parties.

8. According to prosecution case, the complainant Upendra Singh Jatav made a complaint to the police that his neighbor Shyamlal was beaten by the appellant, Daplu s/o Nathu Singh Narwariya, Gajendra Singh Narwariya, about 6-7 days back and thereafter they took the injured to Gwalior and from thereafter the whereabouts of Shyamlal are not known. On this information, an enquiry was initiated and the statement of witnesses in the Merg enquiry were recorded. The Police found that in fact the deceased Shyamlal was beaten by appellant, co-accused Daplu @ Omkar and Gajendra by Lathi and thereafter they took the deceased to Gwalior and got him admitted in the J.A. Hospital Gwalior in the fake name of Nathuram s/o Hukum Singh. The injured Shyamlal who was admitted in the hospital by co-accused Omkar Singh in the name of Nathuram s/o Hukum expired on 8-6-2020. Accordingly, the dead body of Shyamlal was handed over to Omkar Singh after the postmortem. It appears that the dead body of Shyamlal, who was admitted in the fake name of Nathuram, was not brought in the village and his cremation was done somewhere else and since whereabouts of Shyamlal was not known, therefore, his neighb