IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. MP(M) No. 2996 of 2025 Reserved on: 16.01.2026 Date of Decision: 23.01.2026.

Amrish Rana ….Petitioner Versus State of H.P. ….Respondent _____________________________________

Coram Hon’ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kainthla, Vacation Judge.

Whether approved for reporting?¹ No For the Petitioner(s) : Ms. Sheetal Vyas, Advocate.

For the Respondent/State: Mr. Pushpender Singh Jaswal, Additional Advocate General.

Rakesh Kainthla, Vacation Judge The petitioner has filed the present petition seeking regular bail in FIR No. 40 of 2025, dated 16.4.2025, registered at Police Station, Gagret, District Una, H.P. for the commission of offences punis hable under Sections 126(2), 308(4), 324(5), 351(2), 352, 62, 111(2)(b) and 238 read with Section 3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).

1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes.

2. It has been asserted that as per the FIR, the petitioner and the co-accused went to the spot on 15.04.2025 at around 10:00 pm and threatened the JCB driver Shiv Kumar and Tipper Driver Sanjay Rana by waiving a darat and asked them to take away their vehicles. The petitioner deflated the tyres of the vehicles and put some substance in their engine. The allegations in the FIR even if, taken to be true do not constitute any heinous offence. No injury was inflicted on any person. No recovery of weapon was effected from the petitioner. The offence punishable under Section 308(4) of BNS is not made out. The allegations are false. The charge sheet has been filed before the Court and no fruitful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody. The police added Section 111 of BNS without any foundation. There is no evidence of any continuing criminal activity, financial gain or organized group structure to support the allegation. The petitioner is a permanent resident of District Una and has been blessed with a baby girl. He has roots in the society and there is no chance of his absconding. Hence, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed and the petitioner be released on bail.

3. The petition is opposed by filing a status report asserting that the informant, Kanwar Sandeep Singh, made a complaint to the police stating that he had established Thakur Store Crusher Guglehar about 03 years before the incident. He had employed the drivers to drive the vehicles and the JCB. Amrish Rana visited the Swan River on 12.04.2025 with his friends and threatened the drivers. He again visited the spot on 15.04.2025 at 10:00 pm with Amit Mankotia in the vehicles bearing registration Nos. HP67-9251 and HP72D-0695. They threatened Shiv Kumar, the driver of the JCB and Sanjay Rana, the driver of the tipper. Amrish Rana had a “darat”, and he threatened to kill the drivers on failure to accompany him. The drivers drove the vehicles to the Swan River. Amrish Rana and his friends put something into the engine and deflated the tyres of the tipper. Amrish Rana had already threatened the informant and Rohit Kumar to face dire consequences on failure to pay money to him. Police registered the FIR and investigated the matter. It was found after the investigation that the accused had threatened the informant Kanwar Sandeep Singh and Rohit Kumar, owner of Sai Stone Crusher, for ransom. Hence, the offence punishable under Section 111(2) of the BNS was added. Amrish Rana and Amit Mankotia produced the vehicles bearing registration No. HP-72D-0695 and HP-67-9251, along with documents and the keys, which were seized by the police. Amrish Rana did not produce his mobile phone or darat, which was used during the incident. Amit Mankotia produced his mobile phone, which was analyzed and it was found that it was used for calling someone virtually. Amrish Rana was convicted in FIR No. 489/1999, 419/2006, 537/2000, 69/2001, 677/2002, 40/2003, 73/2006, and 498/2002. He was acquitted in FIR No. 437/2000, 51/1999 and 6/2001. FIR No. 249/1996 was compromised between the