HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 34372 of 2025 Court No. - 67 HON'BLE KRISHAN PAHAL, J. 1. List has been revised. 2. Heard Sri Kuldeep Singh Sekera, learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Shyam Dhar Maurya, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material placed on record. 3. Applicant seeks bail in Case Crime No.177 of 2025, under Sections 103(1), 49, 61(2)क B.N.S. and 3/25/27 Arms Act, Police Station- Govind Nagar, District- Mathura, 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 co-accused person Rajan Yadav has already been enlarged on bail by this Court vide order dated 27.8.2025 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No.25368 of 2025. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant has further stated that the only disparity of the applicant with co-accused person is that subsequently an eye-witness Lokendra has been roped in by the prosecution in whose statement the applicant has been assigned the role of having fired at the deceased person. The said statement has been taken belatedly and the name of said witness does not find mention in the FIR. 6. It is further argued by learned counsel for the applicant that had the said witness seen the said occurrence, he would have mentioned it at the time of Versus Counsel for Applicant(s) : Kuldeep Singh Sekera, Rajesh Kumar Pal Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A. Rakesh Joshi .....Applicant(s) State of U.P. .....Opposite Party(s) institution of FIR which itself is delayed by about four hours. There is no previous criminal antecedent of the applicant except two cases foisted on him subsequent to the present case. The applicant is languishing in jail since 26.4.2025 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 A.G.A. has vehemently opposed the bail application on the ground that there is recovery of CMP at the pointing out of the applicant. 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 other co-accused person has already been enlarged on bail and the said eye-witness has been roped in subsequently, 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 BAIL No. 34372 of 2025 2 allowed. 13. Let the applicant- Rakesh Joshi, 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 14, 2025 Vikas Verma BAIL No. 34372 of 2025 3 (Krishan Pahal,J.) Digitally signed by :- VIKAS VERMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad