Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:108698 Court No. - 65 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 18819 of 2023 Applicant :- Babar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Anjali Singh Tomer,Madhava Nand Shukla,Rajendra Prasad Mishra Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Matiur Rehman Khan Hon'ble Krishan Pahal,J. 1. List has been revised. 2. Heard Sri Rahul Gaur, holding brief of Ms. Anjali Singh Tomer, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Farhan Khan, holding brief of Matiur Rehman Khan, learned counsel for the informant as well as Sri Arun Kumar Mishra, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record. 3. Applicant seeks bail in Case Crime No. 40 of 2022, under Sections 498A, 304B, 201 IPC and Section 3/4 of D.P. Act, Police Station Ratanpuri, District Muzaffar Nagar, during the pendency of trial. 4. As per prosecution story, marriage of the applicant was solemnized with the deceased person as per Muslim rites on 14.02.2018. The applicant and other family members are stated to have subjected the deceased to cruelty for demand of a duster car and Rs. ten lacs as dowry thereby led her to death on 07.03.2022 at about 6 a.m. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant has stated that the applicant is innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the present case. He has nothing to do with the said offence. The FIR is delayed as the informant was very much present and instituted the FIR on 07.03.2022 at about 11:36 p.m. much after the inquest proceedings and post mortem examination of the deceased person. 6. Learned counsel has further stated that the inquest proceedings of the deceased were complete on 07.03.2022 at about 1 p.m. itself and the informant is the panch witness no.3 in the inquest proceedings and he has not whispered a single word about the deceased being smothered or subjected to any cruelty for demand of dowry, rather it is mentioned in the said inquest proceedings that the cause of death was an accident met by a car having no. UP15 BU 3445 as the car fell down in the Ganga canal and the deceased expired due to drowning. 7. Learned counsel for the applicant has further stated that the post mortem examination report falsely mentioned the cause of death to be asphyxia as a result of ante mortem smothering. It is very much possible that the deceased, who died after drowning due to accident of the vehicle, might have expired out of drowning and it is also possible that the injuries may be similar to smothering. 8. The applicant is languishing in jail since 19.03.2022, as such he has incarcerated for more than three years and only one prosecution witness has been examined till date. The applicant is cooperating in trial. 9. Per contra, learned A.G.A. and learned counsel for the informant have vehemently opposed the bail on the ground that the informant did not have the opportunity to examine minutely the cause of death and it has been opined by the doctor conducting her autopsy that the cause of death was asphyxia as a result of ante mortem smothering as such, it is a clear cut case of culpable homicide. 10. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and taking into consideration the cause of death being asphyxia as a result of ante mortem smothering, I do not find it a fit case for grant of bail to the applicant. 11. The bail application is found devoid of merits and is, accordingly, rejected. 12. However, it is directed that the aforesaid case pending before the trial court be decided expeditiously, in view of the principle laid down in the recent judgements of the Supreme Court in the cases of Vinod Kumar vs. State of Punjab 2015 (3) SCC 220 and Hussain and Another vs. Union of India (2017) 5 SCC 702, if there is no legal impediment. 13. It is clarified that the observations made herein are limited to the facts brought in by the parties pertaining to the disposal of bail application and the said observations shall have no bearing on the merits of the case during trial. Order Date :- 9.7.2025 Sumit S (Justice Krishan Pahal) Digitally signed by :- SUMIT SRIVASTAVA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad Digitally signed by :- SUMIT SRIVASTAVA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad