HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 12849 of 2025 Court No. - 67 HON'BLE KRISHAN PAHAL, J. 1. List has been revised. Supplementary affidavit and rejoinder affidavit filed today is taken on record. 2. Heard Sri Anil Kumar Srivastava, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Sri Thakur Prasad Dubey, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Sunil Kumar, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material placed on record. 3. Applicant seeks bail in Case Crime No.260 of 2024, under Sections 103(1), 238, 3(5) B.N.S., Police Station-Baberu, District-Banda, during the pendency of trial. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant has stated that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case. The FIR is delayed by three days and there is no explanation to the said delay caused. The informant has instituted the FIR on the basis of suspicion only and subsequently after a delay of about 15 days of the institution of FIR, the statements of two witnesses have been recorded by the Investigating Officer, namely, Raj Kumari and Anjali who had categorically stated that applicant had taken the deceased person along with other co-accused person in a car, but there is no evidence of applicant being seen at the place of recovery of the dead body or dumping the dead body under the culvert. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant further submits that only evidence against the applicant is that he had conversation with the deceased person. It Versus Counsel for Applicant(s) : Nityanand Srivastava, Pramod Kumar Srivastava, Thakur Prasad Dubey Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A. Shiv Pratap Singh @ Chhotu Singh .....Applicant(s) State of U.P. .....Opposite Party(s) is further argued that having conversation with a relative is natural for any person. There is no criminal history of the applicant. The applicant is languishing in jail since 22.12.2024 and he is ready to cooperate with trial. In case, the applicant is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail. 6. Learned A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the bail application. 7. 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. 8. 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 recapitulated by the Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and Ors., 2022 INSC 690. 9. Reiterating the aforesaid view the Supreme Court in the case of Manish Sisodia Vs. Directorate of Enforcement 2024 INSC 595 has again emphasised 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". 10. Learned AGA could not bring forth any exceptional circumstances which would warrant denial of bail to the applicant. 11. It is settled principle of law that the object of bail is to secure the attendance of the accused at the trial. No material particulars or circumstances suggestive of the applicant fleeing from justice or thwarting the course of justice or creating other troubles in the shape of repeating offences or intimidating witnesses and the like have been shown by learned AGA. BAIL No. 12849 of 2025 2 12. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, the evidence on record, and taking into consideration the delay in institution of FIR 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. 13. Let the applicant- Shiv Pratap Singh @ Chhotu Singh, 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 Karan BAIL No. 12849 of 2025 3 (Krishan Pahal,J.) Digitally signed by :- KARAN KUMAR RAO High Court of Judicature at Allahabad