In a batch of appeals filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking regular bail after the same was rejected by the Additional Sessions Judge, Sirsa, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Namit Kumar granted regular bail to the appellants against a First Information Report filed for commission of offences under Sections 302, 323, 354, 449/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Six siblings, along with their parents, lived in the house of Krishan Huda and had taken the land of Satyawan on a 1/4th share, besides doing labour work. On 01-07-2023, the appellant asked the complainant to become friends, but the complainant returned without replying. The complainant, along with her mother and brother, went to the appellant’s house to complain about this incident.
On the same night, the appellant, as well as the co-accused persons, went to the house of the complainant and started beating the complainant and her family members. Upon hearing noise, the neighbours came, and the assailants fled away on their motorcycles. Thereafter, the family of the complainant was admitted to CHC, Chopta, where the doctor declared her father dead.
The appellants submitted that they were innocent and had been falsely implicated. It was also submitted that none of the appellants used any weapon, and that none of the injured people had suffered any grievous injuries. The appellants submitted that the police had wrongly added provisions of the SC/ST Act and that there were no allegations in the FIR regarding the same.
The Court stated that even though the material witnesses had supported the case, the Medico-Legal Report mentioned that the injuries suffered by the injured persons were simple in nature. Further, the Court noted the opinion of the board of doctors, whereby it was stated that the exact cause of the death of the complainant’s father could not be ascertained, and thereby, a shadow of doubt was cast on the direct nexus between the assault and the death.
Further, the Court took note of a witness statement wherein it was mentioned that the deceased had suffered a mild heart attack a few months before the alleged assault, and said that this clarified that the death of the father may not have been a direct consequence of the assault.
The Court stated that the allegations against the appellants regarding the use of caste-based remarks were wholly untenable, as there were four accused persons, out of whom two were themselves members of the scheduled caste. The Court noted that the said allegation could not be cleared even from the depositions, and that the FIR was also silent on this point.
Keeping in mind that the appellants had been incarcerated for more than two years, had no criminal antecedents, and that the conclusion of the trial may take a long time, the Court granted regular bail to the appellants while disposing of the appeals.
Appearances:
For Appellants – Dr. Manish Aggarwal, Mr. Anil Saini, Mr. Arpandeep Narula, Mr. Piyush Mittal, Mr. Suvir Sidhu, Ms. Ridha Dhawan
For Respondents – Mr. Ramender Singh Chauhan, Mr. Naresh Kumar Ganga
