Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:11270 Court No. - 5 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 37692 of 2024 Applicant :- Rinku Bhardwaj @ Prakash Rajbhar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Pratibha Jaiswal Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Krishna Kumar Verma,Md. Aman Khan Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J. This is the first bail application. By means of the bail application the applicant has prayed to be enlarged on bail in Case Crime No. 238 of 2018 at Police Station- Chopan, District- Sonbhadra under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 120B, 34 IPC and Section 7 of Criminal Law (Amendment) Act. The applicant is in jail since 27.12.2018. The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the learned trial court on 09.10.2023. The following arguments made by Ms. Pratibha Jaiswal and Ms. Garima Jaiswal, learned counsels on behalf of the applicant, which could not be satisfactorily refuted by Md. Aman Khan, learned counsel assisted by Sri Krishna Kumar Verma, learned counsel for the informant and Sri Shrawan Kumar Dubey, learned AGA from the record, entitle the applicant for grant of bail: 1. The applicant was not named in the FIR or in the statement of the first informant. 2. The principal offenders to the contrary have been nominated in the FIR. 3. Prosecution case does not attribute the role of shooting at the deceased to the applicant. 4. Role of criminal conspiracy has been assigned to the applicant. Prosecution evidence does not connect the applicant with the offence of conspiracy. 5. The applicant is a law abiding citizen who cooperated in the investigation and has joined the trial proceedings. The applicant never tampered with the evidence nor influenced any witness. 6. The trial is moving at a snail's pace and and shows no sign of early conclusion. The applicant cannot be faulted for the delay in the trial. 7. Status report sent by the learned trial court in the bail application of co-accused records that the prosecution proposes to examine 55 witnesses. However, only 13 witnesses including material witnesses have been examined. Learned counsel for the applicant calls attention that the witnesses are not cooperating with the trial proceedings. Clearly the prosecution witnesses are delaying the trial only to prolong the incarceration of the applicant without there being any evidence any against him. 8. Inordinate delay in concluding trial has lead to virtually an indefinite imprisonment of the applicant, without their being any credible evidence to implicate him in the offence. 9. The right of the applicant to speedy trial has been violated. 10. Learned counsel for the applicant claims congruency in role and seeks parity in relief granted to co-accused Ravi Kumar Gupta who has been granted bail by this Court on 16.07.2024 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 53329 of 2023. 11. The applicant has explained his criminal history. It is also contended that the applicant has become a soft target and a convenient scapegoat for the police authorities who nominated him in a number of false cases to burnish their professional credentials. The said cases do not have any bearing on the instant bail application. 12. The applicant is not a flight risk. The applicant being a law abiding citizen has always cooperated with the investigation and undertakes to cooperate with the court proceedings. There is no possibility of his influencing witnesses, tampering with the evidence or reoffending. In the light of the preceding discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the bail application is allowed. Let the applicant- Rinku Bhardwaj @ Prakash Rajbhar be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number, on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court below. The following conditions be imposed in the interest of justice:- (i) The applicant will not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness during the trial. (ii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted. (iii) The learned trial court is directed to fix the sureties after due application of mind in light of the judgement passed by this Court in Arvind Singh v. State of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Deptt. (Application U/S 482 No.2613 of 2023). The learned trial court shall ensure that the right of bail of the applicant granted by this Court is not frustrated by arbitrary demands of sureties, or onerous conditions which are unrelated to the socioeconomic status of the applicant. Order Date :- 22.1.2025 Pravin Digitally signed by :- PRAVIN VERMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad