SUMEET GOEL, J. (Oral)

1. The present petition is the second attempt under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter to be referred as ‘the BNSS’) for grant of pre-arrest/anticipatory bail to the petitioner in case bearing FIR No.109 dated 16.06.2025, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 109, 190, 191 of BNS, 2023 and Section 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act at Police Station Sadar Patti, District Tarn Taran.

The petitioner had earlier applied for grant of pre-arrest/anticipatory bail before this Court which was dismissed as withdrawn on 25.02.2026. The relevant part of said order reads as under:-

“2. Learned counsel for the petitioner seeks to withdraw the petition in hand. He further submits that the petitioner shall surrender before the concerned Court within a period of 01 week from today, and in case, he does so and prefers plea for regular bail, the same be decided within a period of 01 week from today, and in case, he does so and prefers plea for regular bail, the same be decided within a period of 01 week from the date of filing of such plea.

3. Ordered accordingly.

4. Pending application(s), if any, shall also stand disposed of.”

Thereafter, the present petition i.e. the second petition for grant of anticipatory/pre-arrest bail has been preferred by the petitioner on 05.11.2026.

2. The gravamen of the allegations, as emanating from the FIR, are that the instant FIR came to be registered on the statement of complainant Sukhdev Singh son of Kashmir Singh, who alleged that Veer Kaur wife of Late Satnam Singh @ Satta is the daughter-in-law of his maternal aunt (Massi) and resides alongwith her daughter Billa @ Sonia. It has been further alleged that her father Bakshish Singh and brother Ranjit Singh frequently visited her house and used to provoke her against the complainant side. Due to this, Veer Kaur often quarreled with the wife of the complainant namely Baljit Kaur and accused her of practicing witchcraft. It was further alleged that Veer Kaur suspected that Baljit Kaur had taken out the bones of her deceased brother-in-law Kulwant Singh @ Judge from the grave and used the same for witchcraft, due to which illness had spread in their family. As per the allegations, on 15.06.2025 at about 10:00 PM, while the complainant and his family members were having dinner, Veer Kaur @ Veero alongwith the present petitioner Joban Singh, armed with a brick, Billa son of unknown, armed with a pistol, Manpreet Singh son of Swaran Singh armed with a baseball bat, Arshdeep Singh son of Swaran Singh armed with a wooden stick and 6-7 unknown persons, one of whom was armed with a country-made 12 bore pistol, came to the house of the complainant and started thumping the main gate. When the complainant came outside, Veer Kaur allegedly raised a lalkara exhorting the assailants to teach the complainant party a lesson for performing witchcraft whereupon Billa @ Sonia allegedly pushed the complainant to the ground and all the assailants started assaulting him. It has been further alleged that upon hearing the commotion, other family members of the complainant came outside whereafter accused Billa fired a shot from his pistol which hit Kirandeep Kaur on the right side of her chest. It has been further alleged that one unknown assailant fired from a country-made pistol with an intention to kill and the pallet struck Shamsher Singh son of Gurbachan Singh on his head. Accused Manpreet Singh allegedly attacked the injured persons with a baseball bat whereas accused Arshdeep Singh inflicted blows with a wooden stick. The specific allegation against the present petitioner is that he inflicted a brick blow on the head of Janga Singh son of Thakur Singh. On raising the alarm, all the accused persons allegedly fled away from the spot alongwith their respective weapons in an Innova vehicle bearing registration No. HR-69A-0260. On these set of allegations, the present FIR was registered and investigation ensued.