IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT GWALIOR BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE MILIND RAMESH PHADKE

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ON THE 6 OF FEBRUARY, 2026 MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 41752 of 2025 ASHISH ALIAS LALAA Versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH Appearance:

Shri Sugam Gupta - Advocat for the applicant.

Shri Rajendra Singh Yadav - Public Prosecutor for the State.

ORDER This is the first bail application 483 of BNSS (439 of Cr.P.C.) filed by the applicant for grant of bail. He has been arrested on 06.05.2025 by Police Station Ambah, District Morena in connection with Crime No.223 of 2025 registered in relation to the offence punishable under Sections 25(8) and 27 of the Arms Act.

As per the prosecution story, on 06.05.2025, the Station House Officer, Ambah, along with police staff, had departed for area patrolling for investigation of crime and search of warrants. During this time, at Jagga Chauraha, a secret informer provided information that Lala Tomar (present applicant), resident of village Dohri, was carrying weapons in a Baleno car and was proceeding from Tor village towards his native village Dohri via the canal embankment, and he was involved in the illegal sale of arms. Upon receiving the said information, the accompanying force was informed, and the police party reached the location indicated by the informer, namely the Dohri canal culvert on the Dohri-side embankment. When the police party reached about 150 meters inside the canal embankment, a white-colored Baleno car without a registration number was seen approaching from the opposite direction. With the help of the accompanying force, the vehicle was surrounded and intercepted. Upon inquiry of his name and address, the person disclosed his name as Lala alias Ashish Tomar (present applicant), son of Mahendra Singh Tomar, resident of village Dohri, Police Station Ambah. The said person was informed about the informer’s tip-off, and thereafter, his personal search and search of the vehicle were conducted. During the search of the car, a blue-colored backpack bearing the word “Apple” was recovered from the boot of the vehicle, which contained five pistols of .32 bore, one revolver, one country- made pistol of .315 bore, one country-made pistol of 12 bore, five live cartridges of .315 bore, and five live cartridges of .32 bore. When asked to produce a license for the said arms and ammunition, the accused stated that he did not possess any valid license. On instructions of the Station House Officer to take legal action, Sub-Inspector Pragya Sheel, Police Station Ambah, directed Constable Jitendra Tosar to bring plastic containers for seizure purposes. As the accused was engaged in the illegal sale of arms, his act was found to be punishable under Sections 25 and 28 of the Arms Act. Accordingly, in the presence of witnesses, the said bag along with the recovered arms and the white-colored unregistered Baleno car were seized from the possession of the accused, and a seizure memo (panchnama) was prepared. The seized weapons were kept in separate plastic containers, sealed properly, and seizure labels were affixed. The accused was arrested in the presence of witnesses, and thereafter, upon returning to Police Station Ambah, Crime No. 223/2025 was registered under Sections 25(8) and 27 of the Arms Act, and the First Information Report was duly recorded. After completion of the investigation, the charge-sheet was filed before the competent court against the accused.

Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case and the entire prosecution story, even if taken at its face value, does not inspire confidence and suffers from serious legal and factual infirmities. It is further submitted that the alleged recovery is shown to have been effected solely on the basis of a so-called secret information, which has neither been independently corroborated nor supported by any credible material on record. No independent or respectable public witn