IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on: 09.01.2025 Pronounced on: 24.01.2025 Ramandeep Singh @ Raman ...Petitioner Versus State of Punjab …Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. Ankur Jain, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Akshay Kumar, A.A.G., Punjab.

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ANOOP CHITKARA, J.

FIR No. Dated Police Station Sections

175 13.07.2023 Kotwali, District 160, 302, 303, 323, 324, 325, Kapurthala 326, 332, 186, 353, 148, 149, 120-B IPC

1. The petitioner incarcerated in the FIR captioned above came before this Court under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking regular bail.

2. Per paragraph 12 of the bail application and 6 (iii) of status report, the accused has the following criminal antecedents:-

Sr. FIR No. Date Offenses Police Station No.

1. 153 10.11.2022 379-B, 120-B IPC Chatiwind 2. 02 04.01.2023 379-B(2), 336 IPC, 25 of Arms Chatiwind Act

3. 04 09.01.2023 379-B IPC Sadar Nakodar

4. 07 11.01.2023 382, 506, 34 IPC, 25-54-59 of Patara, District Arms Act Jalandhar

3. The facts and allegations are being taken from the status report filed by the State, which reads as follows:-

“3. That it is respectfully submitted that the present case bearing FIR No. 175 dated 13.07.2023 under Section 160, 302, 303, 323, 324, 325, 326, 332, 186, 353, 148, 149, 120-B. IPC and Section 42 Prison Act, was registered at Police Station Kotwali, District Kapurthala on the complaint of Hemant Sharma, the then Additional Superintendent, Central Jail, Kapurthala initially against 22 prisoners.

That the contents of the above FIR No. 175 dated 13.07.2023 are not being reproduced herein for the sake of brevity as the same have been annexed with the petition as Annexure P-1.

4. That after the registration of the above said FIR, thorough investigation was conducted and from the footage of the CCTV cameras at the spot, it has transpired that on 13.07.2023 at about 7.30 AM, about 30-35 inmates inclusion with each other gathered at Phase-2 gate from their barracks, at Central Jail Kapurthala, out of which 31 prisoners have already been identified, out of whom, some of the inmates had weapons and some were empty handed 21 inmates crossed the gate of Phase-2 and proceeded towards security ward-E. On the way, on being stopped by the police and security forces, they scuffled with them as well. These prisoners entered the Chakki No. 17 of the Security Ward E and had gravely beaten Simranjit Singh @ Simar son of Resham Singh, and his 3 companions Surinder Singh @ Jimmy son of Mann Singh, Amanpreet Singh @ Sonu son of Sarabjit Singh and Varinder Pal Singh @ Raja were also beaten. And that Simranjit singh @ Simar was Seriously Injured. The remaining 11 inmates along with about 7-8 unknown inmates stopped the police personnels from closing the gate of Phase-2, So that there is no disturbance to their fellow inmates while returning from security Ward-E after the incident. That, during the investigation it was also found that the present petitioner was involved in the conspiracy and he along with the other 35- 36 accused prisoners transpired together to cause injures to the now deceased inmate namely Simranjit Singh Alias Simar & his three other accomplices with intention to kill in Ward No- 17 due to old rivalry. The injuries were inflicted upon the deceased and injured prisoners with blows of a sharp iron weapon. Subsequently during the treatment, the above said injured Simranjit succumbed to his injuries at Guru Nanak Medical College Amritsar on 13.07.2023. On 18.07.2023 a letter no.2760 was received from the Superintendent, Central Jail, Kapurthala to nominate 10 other convicts for their involvement in the incident. The petitioner was nominated vide Rapat No.32 dated 19.07.2023.

Thereafter, on 24.07.2023, the petitioner was produced before the Ld. Magistrate on production warrant and after seeking mission was joined in the investigation and arrested. The Ld. Magistrate duly granted the police remand of th