The Delhi High Court has held that bail can be granted, if the accused had undergone prolonged incarceration of over five years, the trial was unlikely to conclude expeditiously with 16 witnesses still remaining, and the material presently relied upon against him, namely public-street CCTV footage, recovery of the motorcycle chassis, and the disclosure statement of a co-accused, did not, at the stage of bail, outweigh these considerations, particularly when the allegation of direct participation in strangulation rested only on the co-accused’s disclosure statement and similarly placed co-accused had already been granted bail.
Accordingly, the Court directed release of the petitioner on regular bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 25,000 with one surety in the like amount, subject to conditions including appearance before the Trial Court on every date, residence within NCT of Delhi at the stated address, prior intimation of address change, keeping mobile number operational, weekly reporting to the jurisdictional police station every Tuesday at 4:00 PM, non-tampering with evidence, and not committing any offence during the period of release.
The Court however clarified that its observations were only for deciding the bail application and would neither influence the trial nor amount to an expression on merits.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Prateek Jalan observed the present as an appropriate case for grant of bail, principally noting that the petitioner had already been incarcerated for five years and two months, and that with 16 witnesses still to be examined, expeditious conclusion of trial was improbable.
The Bench observed that the material against the petitioner consisted of CCTV footage, recovery of the motorcycle chassis at his instance, and the disclosure statement of co-accused Sher Khan. On the CCTV footage, the Bench noted that it was footage of a public street with many people present; the petitioner was not seen in the company of any co-accused or the deceased, and since Nanak’s jhuggi was in a cluster of jhuggis, his exact destination remained a matter for trial.
On recovery, the Bench noted that the prosecution case itself was that the belongings of the deceased had been given to the petitioner by co-accused Md. Ali. The Bench also noted that co-accused Sher Khan and Anil Jatav had already been granted bail. Although the prosecution attributed to the petitioner an active role in strangulation, that allegation was based only on Sher Khan’s disclosure statement and remained to be established at trial.
Briefly, the petitioner sought regular bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 in connection with an FIR registered at Police Station Sarai Rohilla for offences under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The FIR was registered on Feb 09, 2021 after telephonic information regarding a dead body lying near the railway line adjacent to Kishanganj Railway Station. The body was in a semi-decomposed state inside a plastic bag.
CCTV footage from the vicinity allegedly showed three persons pulling a cart carrying a plastic bag towards the spot, and they were identified as Sher Khan, Panchu and Anil Hapuria/Jatav, all arrayed as accused persons. The deceased was later identified as Ajay Kashyap, in whose respect a missing report had been registered on Feb 08, 2021. The post-mortem certified the cause of death as “Asphyxia as a result of the combined effect of antemortem smothering and ligature strangulation”.
Co-accused Sher Khan was arrested on Feb 17, 2021, and in his disclosure statement, he named the present petitioner, along with Md. Ali and Panchu, as persons who strangulated the deceased in Nanak’s jhuggi. He also stated that the body was dumped near Kishanganj Railway Station by himself, Panchu and Anil Jatav on the directions of Md. Ali. The jhuggi was inspected by the FSL team, but no incriminating material was recovered. The petitioner, Panchu and Md. Ali were subsequently arrested.
The prosecution further alleged that Md. Ali had a financial dispute with the deceased arising out of gambling, that the petitioner was part of the conspiracy to murder the deceased, and that the belongings of the deceased, including the motorcycle, were handed over to the petitioner for disposal. The chassis of the motorcycle was recovered from a river in Bulandshahr District, Uttar Pradesh, at the instance of the petitioner. The prosecution also relied on CCTV footage showing the petitioner walking towards Nanak’s jhuggi on Feb 07, 2021, followed 45 seconds later by Md. Ali and the deceased, with Md. Ali later seen returning alone.
Appearances:
R.H.A. Sikander, Jatin Bhatt, and Sikander, Advocates, for the Petitioner
Yudhvir Singh Chauhan, APP, for the Respondent
