High CourtDivision BenchAppeal allowed

A v. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR.

Case / Petition Number:Criminal Appeal No. 1695 of 2022
Neutral Citation:[2022] 7 S.C.R. 283

Case Details & Bench

Court
High Court
Hon'ble Judges
  • M. R. Shah
  • Krishna Murari
Judgment Date
2022-09-30
Court Decision / Holding
Appeal allowed; High Court’s bail order releasing respondent No. 2 on bail is quashed and set aside; respondent No. 2 to surrender before the jail authorities/court within two weeks; trial to proceed on merits and on the basis of the evidence, without influence from this order.
Final Disposition
Appeal allowed

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

  • A

Respondents

  • The State of Uttar Pradesh
  • Anr.

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

  • • Atul Kumar
  • • Abhimanyu Sharma
  • • Ms. Deepali
  • • Tarun Gupta

Counsels for Respondents

  • • Vinod Diwakar
  • • AAG
  • • Rakesh Kumar Khanna
  • • Sarvesh Singh Baghel
  • • B. N. Dubey
  • • Vishal Kumar Singh
  • • Ashutosh Dubey
  • • Abhishek Chauhan
  • • H. B. Dubey
  • • Ms. Rajshri Dubey
  • • Amit P. Shahi
  • • Ashish Tanwar
  • • R. Khanna
  • • Amit Kumar

Case Synopsis & Summary

This Supreme Court decision arises from Criminal Appeal No. 1695 of 2022. The complainant, i.e., the State, challenges a High Court bail order that released respondent No. 2 on bail in a case crime 1069 of 2014 under Sections 302 and 120B IPC, heard by Allahabad High Court. The Court emphasizes that the High Court did not adequately assess the gravity and seriousness of the alleged offence, nor the material on record in the charge-sheet, at the time of granting bail. It notes the absence of cogent reasons for bail in a very serious offence, and highlights material neglected by the High Court such as earlier proceedings under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash the proceedings, the dismissal of the S.L.P., and the existence of a non-bailable warrant against respondent No. 2. The High Court’s parity comparison with co-accused was found to be inadequate, failing to account for the specific role and allegations against respondent No. 2. The Supreme Court concludes that the High Court’s order is unsustainable and quashes it, directing respondent No. 2 to surrender within two weeks. The trial court is instructed to proceed on merits and on the basis of the evidence, without any influence from this order. The appeal is allowed accordingly.

Provisions of Law Cited

IPC s.302IPC s.120BCr.P.C. s.482

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

Not explicitly stated in the excerpt; the judgment emphasizes that the High Court failed to consider the seriousness of the offence, the material on record, and parity with co-accused, all of which undermined the validity of the bail order.

Contentions of Respondents

Not explicitly stated in the excerpt.

Cited Precedents (1)

Case NameCitationTreatmentExplanation
BOHATTI DEVI v. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR./ null /Mentioned OnlyCited within the judgment; the provided excerpt shows the case name but no discussion or ratio analysis is presented in this extract.

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Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

283 [2022] 7 S.C.R. 283 **==> picture [79 x 9] intentionally omitted <==** A v. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR. (Criminal Appeal No. 1695 of 2022) B ## SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 ## **[M. R. SHAH AND KRISHNA MURARI, JJ.]** _Penal Code, 1860 – ss.302, 120B – Bail – Respondent no.2-_ C _accused granted bail by High Court – On appeal, held : No cogent reasons have been given by the High Court while releasing the respondent no.2 on bail, germane to the grant of bail and that too in a very serious offence u/ss.302 and 120B – Material and/or relevant aspects have been ignored by the High Court while releasing_ D _the respondent no.2 on bail – Further, while considering the parity with co-accused, it did not consider the role attributed to the said co-accused and the allegations against respondent no.2 – Impugned judgment set aside – Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.482._ E CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 1695 of 2022. From the Judgment and Order dated 25.03.2022 of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 4095 of 2022. F Atul Kumar, Abhimanyu Sharma, Ms. Deepali, Tarun Gupta, Advs. for the Appellant. Vinod Diwakar, AAG, Rakesh Kumar Khanna, Sr. Adv., Sarvesh Singh Baghel, B. N. Dubey, Vishal Kumar Singh, Ashutosh Dubey, Abhishek Chauhan, H. B. Dubey, Ms. Rajshri Dubey, Amit P. Shahi, Ashish Tanwar, R. Khanna, Amit Kumar, Advs. for the Respondents. G H 283 284 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 7 S.C.R. - A The Judgment of the Court was delivered by ## **M. R. SHAH, J.** 1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order dated 25.03.2022 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 4095 of 2022 by which B the High Court has released the respondent No. 2 accused on bail in connection with the F.I.R. for the offence under Sections 302 and 120B IPC, the original complainant (now the State) has preferred the present appeal. 2. At the outset, it is required to be noted that the respondent No. C 2 is facing the trial for the offence under Sections 302 and 120B IPC. Having gone through the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court releasing the respondent No. 2 on bail, it can be seen that the High Court has not at all considered the seriousness and gravity of the offence alleged against the respondent No. 2. Even the High Court D has not considered the relevant material forming the charge sheet. No cogent reasons have been given by the High Court while releasing the respondent No. 2 on bail, germane to the grant of bail and that too in a very serious offence under Sections 302 and 120B IPC. - 2.1 The High Court has also not considered the fact that earlier - E the respondent No. 2 – accused initiated the proceedings before the High Court to quash the criminal proceedings against him by filing an application under Section 482 Cr.P.C., which came to be dismissed by the High Court. The High Court has also not considered that the special leave petition filed against the order passed by the High Court rejecting the application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. also got dismissed by this Court. - F The High Court has also not noticed and/or considered that a non-bailable warrant was issued against respondent No. 2 – accused and thereafter, he was arrested in the year 2021. All the aforesaid aspects, which are very material and/or relevant while considering the prayer for bail have been ignored by the High Court while releasing the respondent No. 2 on bail. - G - H 2.2 From the impugned judgment and order, it appears that the High Court has considered the enlargement on bail to the co-accused Vicky and Sarvesh @ Mangal. However, the High Court while considering the parity has not at all considered the role attributed to the said coaccused and the allegations against respondent No. 2 herein. BOHATTI DEVI v. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR. 285 [M. R. SHAH, J.] 3. In view of the above facts and circumstances, the impugned A judgment and order passed by the High Court releasing the respondent No. 2 on bail is unsustainable and the same deserves to be quashed and set aside and is accordingly quashed and set aside. The impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court releasing the respondent No. 2 - accused on bail in connection with Case Crime No. 1069 of 2014 B for the offence under Sections 302, 120B IPC, P.S. Baraut, District Baghpat is hereby quashed and set aside. Now, the respondent No.2 to surrender before the concerned Jail Authority / Court within a period of two weeks from today, failing which, non-bailable warrant be issued against him. However, it is observed that the learned Trial Court to conduct the trial in accordance with law and on merits and on the basis of the evidence led before it and without in any way being influenced by the present order as any observations made in the present order are while considering the bail application. Present appeal is allowed accordingly. C D Divya Pandey (Assisted by : Roopanshi Virang, LCRA) Appeal allowed. E F G H