HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 8426 of 2023 Court No. - 12 HON'BLE PANKAJ BHATIA, J. 1. Short counter affidavit filed today in Court is taken on record. 2. Heard learned counsel for the applicant, learned AGA and perused the record. 3. This is second bail application on behalf of the applicant who seeks enlargement on bail in FIR No.139 of 2021, under Section 120B, 320, 323, 364 IPC, P.S. Aliganj, District Lucknow. First bail application of the applicant was rejected by this Court on 23.03.2022. 4. In terms of the FIR it was alleged that on 16.07.2021 son of the informant was having a meal with his two friends when the accused who were having an earlier enmity came armed and hit them with lathi, danda etc., and when the two persons tried to intervene, they were also very badly beaten because of which one of the persons died on account of the injuries sustained. 5. In the light of the said, learned counsel for the applicant argues that the Versus . Counsel for Applicant(s) : Kapil Misra, Chandan Srivastava, Pranshu Agrawal . Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A., Praveen Singh, Rajesh Kumar Srivastava Ayush Pandey .....Applicant(s) State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Lko. .....Opposite Party(s) applicant is in custody since 17.07.2021 and has no criminal antecedents and thus, has suffered pre-trial detention of substantial period. 6. Learned counsel for the informant strongly opposes the bail application by arguing that it was a case of honor killing and the third bail application of the co-accused Adesh Singh was rejected by this Court on 18.11.2024. He further argues that one of the co-accused i.e. father of the present applicant, is not cooperating with the trial and has not even been arrested till date as is evident from the observations made by this Court on 09.05.2024 in Application U/S 482 No.4279 of 2024. He, thus, argues that the bail application deserves to be rejected considering the gravity of the offence. 7. Learned AGA has opposed the bail application. 8. Based upon the arguments as raised and recorded above, apart from the submissions, trial Court report has been sent which indicates that as many as ten witnesses have already been examined and their cross-examination is also over and the matter is listed for further deposition. 9. Thus, considering the fact that the applicant is in custody since 17.07.2021 having no criminal antecedents, has suffered pre-trial detention of more than four years, fact witnesses have already been recorded, thus, there is nothing on record to demonstrate that the applicant, if enlarged on bail, can adversely affect the trial, as such, on account of substantial pre-trial detention, the applicant is entitled to be enlarged on bail. In view thereof, the application is allowed. 10. Let the applicant Ayush Pandey be released on bail in aforesaid FIR number on his furnishing a personal bond with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of court concerned with the following conditions: (a) The applicant shall execute a bond to undertake to attend the hearings; (b) The applicant shall not commit any offence similar to the offence of which he is accused or suspected of the commission; and (c) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat BAIL No. 8426 of 2023 2 or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence. November 12, 2025 nishant BAIL No. 8426 of 2023 3 (Pankaj Bhatia,J.) Digitally signed by :- NISHANT MOHAN High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench