The court held that the statements of the co-accused under Section 27 of the Evidence Act cannot be the sole basis for making out a prima facie case against the applicant for the alleged conspiracy.

Headnote:
Criminal Law - Bail Application - Sections 307, 341, 34, 120-B of IPC and Sections 25, 27 of Arms Act - Conspiracy to Commit Murder
Fact of the Case:

The case involves a crime registered under Sections 307, 341, 34, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 25, 27 of the Arms Act. The prosecution alleged that the applicant, Rakesh Arora, was involved in a conspiracy to commit the murder of the injured, Ashok Arora, along with other co-accused persons. The investigation revealed that the co-accused, Jaikumar @ Babu Sindhi, had communicated from jail about the plan to murder Ashok Arora, and the applicant was involved in the conspiracy due to a dispute over family property.
Finding of the Court:

The court found that except for the statements of the co-accused Babu Sindhi and Akram under Section 27 of the Evidence Act, there was no other evidence connecting the applicant to the conspiracy. The court also noted that there were no call details or CCTV footage linking the applicant to the co-accused. The court held that the statements of the co-accused under Section 27 of the Evidence Act cannot be the sole basis for making out a prima facie case against the applicant.
Issues: The main issue before the court was whether the applicant, Rakesh Arora, should be granted bail in the case registered under Sections 307, 341, 34, 120-B of the IPC and Sections 25, 27 of the Arms Act.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that since the investigation has been completed and the charge sheet has been filed, a prima facie case is made out for the grant of conditional bail to the applicant. The court also noted that the judgment relied upon by the counsel for the objector, which dealt with the appeal against the order of conviction, would not be applicable in the present case, as it was not dealing with the grant of bail.
Final Decision: The court allowed the bail application of the applicant, Rakesh Arora, and directed that he be released from custody upon furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 1,00,000/- with one surety of the like amount, subject to certain conditions.

ORDER

This is first application filed under section 439 of Cr.P.C in crime no.43/2024 under section 307, 341, 34, 120-B of IPC and section 25, 27 of Arms Act registered at police station Neemuch Kant District Neemuch.

As per the prosecution story is that on 05/02/2024 the aforesaid crime was registered against an unknown person on a written complaint made by the complainant Narayan Singh S/o Bhagwat Singh Rathore on the pretext of 4 unknown assailants who came in a black creta Car bearing no. MP-44-CB-2430 and assaulted injured Ashok by fire arm. It was alleged that on 04/02/2024 at about 4:30 PM complainant was going in front of city light furniture Neemuch and ahead of him injured Ashok S/o Kashmirilal was going in his Volvo Car bearing registration no. DD- 02-G-1100 and the complainant were escorting him from behind in a black Scorpio for his security.

It was further alleged that as soon as they reached at City Light furniture shop, a black color Creta Car bearing registration no. MP-44- CB-2430 came and the same was parked in front of the Volvo Car. It was alleged that from the said Creta car 4 unknown assailants came out and started firing gun shots over the car of injured Ashok. It was further alleged that the complainant along with others got down from their car and in defense shot gun fire over the assaulting party.

It was further alleged after the altercation 3 unknown assailants left the spot leaving the car behind and one assailant was lying on the ground in an injured condition, hence the report.

During the course of investigation, it was revealed that Injured Ashok is a resident of Neemuch city and is in a business of buying and selling of properties. It was further revealed that co-accused Jai Kumar @Babu S/o Tolaram Sindhi is also in the same business along with one Arpit @ Lucky S/o Omprakash Singhal and the parties were having inimical relations over the said business.

It was further revealed that co-accused Jaikumar @ Babu Sindhi was arrested in year 2021 by CBN in a case pertaining to NDPS Act and for safety reasons he was shifted to Central Jail Ujjain. It was revealed that co-accused Jaikumar @ Babu Sindhi regularly use to communicate in respect of murder of Ashok Arora in jail. It is further alleged by the prosecution that injured Ashok Arora and present applicant are the real brother and due to dispute regarding family property, the relation between the two brother were not cordial.

It was further alleged that co-accused Jaikumar @ Babu Sindhi during the course of his incarceration at Central Jail Ujjain came in contact with co- accused Nisar @ Ahmed Adil and other co-accused persons. It was further revealed that co-accused Babu @ Mazhar secured his bail from this bench and was released from Jail and similarly co-accused Nisar @ Ahmed Adil was also released on bail.

It was further reveled that main accused co-accused Jaikumar @ Babu Sindhi was also released on temporary bail for a period of 1 month on account of medical exigencies and there they hatched the conspiracy to commit murder of injured Ashok.

It was further alleged that during the course of conspiracy the other accused persons also involved the present applicant since the applicant was not having cordial relation with injured Ashok.

Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is argued that except memo of co- accused Babu Sindhi and co-accused Akram there is no evidence connecting the present applicant with the commission of the offence. It is argued that he has been implicated only on the basis of suspicion and the memo of co- accused under section 27 of Evidence Act which is not admissible in evidence.

Learned counsel for the respondent/state and objector opposed the prayer and submits that in the statement of Babu Sindhi and Akram name of the present applicant was mentioned that he had hired professional shooters and conspired to commit the present offence. They have heavily relied on

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