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2025 DAILYLAW 191502 (ALL)

DEVPAL v. STATE OF U.P.

BAIL/36333/2025 · 2025-10-16

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Judgment text

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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 36333 of 2025 Court No. - 67 HON'BLE KRISHAN PAHAL, J. 1. List has been revised. 2. Heard Sri Tripurari Pal, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Samrat Vikram Singh, learned counsel for the informant as well as Sri Arun Kumar Mishra, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material placed on record. 3. Applicant seeks bail in Case Crime No.67 of 2025, under Sections 126(2), 309(6), 317(2), 103(1), 3(5), 324(4) B.N.S., Police Station- Ughaiti, District- Budaun, during the pendency of trial. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant has argued that the applicant is absolutely innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. He has nothing to do with the said offence. The applicant is not named in the FIR and he has been subsequently nominated by the informant and eye- witnesses as an afterthought. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant has further stated that the applicant is the resident of one and the same village, but he has been subsequently added as an accused after legal consultation out of vengeance. The informant gave an application subsequently in the month of May, 2025 i.e. after a delay of about one month, which is hit by Section 181 BNSS. 6. It is further argued by learned counsel for the applicant that there is no criminal antecedent of the applicant. The applicant is languishing in jail Versus Counsel for Applicant(s) : Tripurari Pal Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : Brajesh Kumar Solanki, G.A., Samrat Vikram Singh Devpal .....Applicant(s) State of U.P. .....Opposite Party(s) since 14.7.2025 and he is ready to cooperate with trial. In case, the applicant is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail. 7. Learned counsel for the informant and learned A.G.A. have vehemently opposed the bail application on the ground that there is a wrong averment made in the affidavit that applicant had surrendered before the court concerned, in fact he was arrested by the police. 8. The well-known principle of "Presumption of Innocence Unless Proven Guilty" gives rise to the concept of bail as a rule and imprisonment as an exception. 9. A person's right to life and liberty, guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, cannot be taken away simply because the person is accused of committing an offence until the guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution states that no one's life or personal liberty may be taken away unless the procedure established by law is followed, and the procedure must be just and reasonable. The said principle has been reiterated by the Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and another, (2022) 10 SCC 51. 10. Reiterating the aforesaid view, the Supreme Court in the case of Manish Sisodia Vs. Directorate of Enforcement, 2024 INSC 595, has again emphasized that the very well-settled principle of law that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment is not to be forgotten. It is high time that the Courts should recognize the principle that "bail is a rule and jail is an exception". 11. Learned A.G.A. could not bring forth any exceptional circumstances which would warrant denial of bail to the applicant. 12. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, the evidence on record, taking into consideration the fact that applicant is not named in the FIR and his name has come up subsequently after a delay of about one month, and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the Court is of the view that the applicant has made out a case for bail. The bail application is allowed. BAIL No. 36333 of 2025 2 13. Let the applicant- Devpal, who is involved in aforementioned case crime be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions. Further, before issuing the release order, the sureties be verified. (i) The applicant shall not tamper with evidence during trial. (ii) The applicant shall not pressurize/intimidate the prosecution witnesses. (iii) The applicant shall appear before the trial court on the date fixed. 14. In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail. 15. It is made clear that observations made in granting bail to the applicant shall not in any way affect the learned trial Judge in forming his independent opinion based on the testimony of the witnesses. October 17, 2025 Vikas Verma BAIL No. 36333 of 2025 3 (Krishan Pahal,J.) Digitally signed by :- VIKAS VERMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad