IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI Cr. Appeal (DB) No. 1412 of 2023 Prabhat Kumar Yadav @ Dimple Yadav @ Prabhat Kumar, son of Umesh Yadav, resident of village- Sadwa or Sadhua Near Bhagwati Mandir, PO & PS Rangra, District: Bhagalpur (Bihar) ... Appellant Versus Union of India through National Investigating Agency, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, PO & PS New Delhi, District: New Delhi, PIN 110003 … Respondent --- CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RONGON MUKHOPADHYAY HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMBUJ NATH For the Appellant : Mr. R.S. Mazumdar, Sr. Advocate For the Respondent : Mr. Amit Kumar Das, Spl.P.P (NIA) --- 09/05.03.2025 Heard Mr. R.S. Mazumdar, learned senior counsel for the appellant and Mr. Amit Kumar Das, learned Spl.P.P. (NIA). 2. This appeal is directed against the order dated 13.07.2023 passed in Misc. Cr. Application No. 1527 of 2023 in connection with Special (NIA) Case No. 01 of 2021, corresponding to RC Case No.01/2021/NIA/RNC, arising out of Balumath PS Case No. 234 of 2020 by Sri Madhuresh Kumar Verma, learned AJC XVI-cum- Spl. Judge, NIA, Ranchi, whereby and whereunder, the prayer for bail of the appellant has been rejected. 3. It has been alleged that on 18.12.2020 an information was received at Balumath Police Station that some unknown persons were burning vehicles and firing indiscriminately near Check Post No.1 at Tetariakhad Colliery. The miscreants had fired at the Police party that had rushed to spot and had also burnt 04 trucks, 01 motorcycle and had also injured 04 civilians. From the place of occurrence remnants of burnt vehicles, fragments of a can bomb with wire, spent cartridges, handwritten pamphlets issuing threats to transporters and coal companies involved in mining signed by one Pradeep Ganjhu etc. were found. On inquiry it was revealed that gangster Sujit Sinha and Aman Sao had conspired with Pradeep Ganjhu and his associates namely Santosh Ganjhu, Pramod Ganjhu and others in disruption of Government work as well as for extortion. Based on the aforesaid allegations Balumath PS Case No. 234/2020 was instituted for the offences punishable u/s 147, 148, 149, 353, 504, 506, 307, 427, 435, 386, 387, 120-B, 121-A, 216 of the IPC, sections 3/4 of the Explosive Substances Act, section 17 of the CLA Act and sections 10, 13, 16(1), (b), 20 and 23 -2- of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India in exercise of powers conferred u/s 6(5) read with section 8 of the NIA vide F.No. 11011/01/2020/NIA dated 07.01.2020 directed the National Investigation Agency to take up investigation of Balumath PS Case No. 234/2020 which was re-registered as Case No. 01/2021/NIA-RNC. Charge-sheet was subsequently submitted against the appellant and other accused persons. 4. It has been submitted by Mr. R.S. Mazumdar, learned senior counsel for the appellant that the allegation against the appellant of harboring terrorist have not been convincingly proved by the Investigating Agency as there is no evidence to indicate that Pradeep Ganjhu and Sharukh Ansari were known to the appellant for their terrorist activities. It has been submitted that the trial has not concluded as yet and the appellant has remained in custody since 07.02.2021. 5. Mr. Amit Kumar Das, learned Spl.P.P. (NIA) has submitted that the arms seized from the possession of the appellant was found to be effective. It has been submitted that the bail applications preferred by several co-accused persons have been rejected by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court and in the case of bail of co- accused Ajay Turi rejection order has been upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in SLP(Crl.) No. 016471/23 vide order dated 22.01.2024. 6. Role of the appellant has been depicted in the charge-sheet in the following manner: “17.24 Investigation brought out that on 21.12.2021 (morning), Pradip Ganjhu (A-3) and Shahrukh Ansari (A-21) reached Purnea, Bihar. At Purnea Bus stand they were received by Lankesh Kumar Sao, Advani and two others. Lankesh Kumar took them to his village Gauripur. Here, Pradip Ganjhu changed his name as Prem and Shahrukh as Tiwari Khan. They remained with Lankesh for a week and thereafter shifted with one Pramod Yadav. During stay with Pramod Yadav, they came in contact with one Sharma Yadav, a wanted criminal of that area. On the direction of Aman Sahu, Sharma Yadav provided Rs. 50,000/- to them. Sharma Yadav also handed over 02 AK-47 Rifles to them. Both of them took cellphone snaps holding AK-47 Rifle and sent the same to Aman Sahu through Telegram app. After a couple of days, they went to Moti Yadav @ Sanjiv Kumar, Pramukh of Rangra Prakhand. Here, they were assisted/aided by Prabhat Kumar Yadav @ Dimple Yadav (A-12), Santosh Kumar Yadav S/o Devmuni Yadav (A- 13). After some days, Moti Yadav sent them to his associate Santosh Kumar @ Banti Yadav (A-10) at village Bhawanipur, PS Rangra, District Naugachia, Bhagalpur, Bihar. Here, they were also assisted by one Pritam Kumar @ Chiku Yadav (A-12), an associate of Santosh Kumar @ Banti Yadav (A-10), who was absconding and avoiding his arrest in a murder case. In this period, they were continuously in contact with Aman Sahu on Telegram app. -3- 17.33 During the investigation, one blasted Can Bomb with wire, one white empty gallon, 07 empty fire cases out of, 05 cases marked as 7.65 KF and 02 empty cases mark as BMM KF recovered and seized from the scene of crime, Swab of hole present in front side of truck having registration number JH19B-2301, Swab of hole present in front side of truck having registration number JH19C-8853, Swab of hole present in front side of truck having registration number JH19B-5941 alongwith 08 country made pistols/katas with ammunition seized from the possession of accused persons were forwarded to SFSL, Ranchi for forensic analysis. The partially report has been received which informs that 03 fired shells seized from the scene of crime were fired from the country made Pistol seized from the possession of accused Pradip Ganjhu (A-3). 01 fired shell of .315 inch/8mm seized from the scene of crime was fired from country made katta seized from the possession of Babulal Turi (A-8). 01 fired shell of .315 inch/8mm seized from the scene of crime was fired from country made Katta seized from the possession of Prabhak Kumar @ Dimple Yadav (A-11). The ammunition seized from the possession of accused persons were found to be effective.” 7. The aforesaid would reveal that based on the forensic analysis the involvement of Pradeep Ganjhu, Babulal Turi and the appellant in the Terariakhad incident of firing and arson has been established. The prayer for bail of the Pradeep Ganjhu and Birbal Turi has been rejected by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Cr. Appeal (DB) No. 781 of 2023 and Cr. Appeal (DB) No. 549 of 2023 respectively. However, it seems that the appellant is in custody since 07.02.2021 i.e. more than four years and there are number of witnesses to be examined by the prosecution. We may, at this juncture, refer to the case of “Union of India versus K.A. Najeeb” reported in (2021) 3 SCC 713 wherein it has been held as follows: “17. It is thus clear to us that the presence of statutory restrictions like Section 43-D(5) of the UAPA per se does not oust the ability of the constitutional courts to grant bail on grounds of violation of Part III of the Constitution. Indeed, both the restrictions under a statute as well as the powers exercisable under constitutional jurisdiction can be well harmonised. Whereas at commencement of proceedings, the courts are expected to appreciate the legislative policy against grant of bail but the rigours of such provisions will melt down where there is no likelihood of trial being completed within a reasonable time and the period of incarceration already undergone has exceeded a substantial part of the prescribed sentence. Such an approach would safeguard against the possibility of provisions like Section 43-D(5) of the UAPA being used as the sole metric for denial of bail or for wholesale breach of constitutional right to speedy trial.” 8. On consideration of the period of incarceration undergone by the appellant, we while setting aside the order dated 13.07.2023 passed in Misc. Cr. Application No. 1527 of 2023 in connection with Special (NIA) Case No. 01 of 2021, corresponding to RC Case No.01/2021/NIA/RNC, arising out of Balumath PS Case No. 234 of 2020 by Sri Madhuresh Kumar Verma, learned AJC XVI-cum- -4- Spl. Judge, NIA, Ranchi, direct that the appellant shall be released on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned AJC XVI-cum- Spl. Judge, NIA, Ranchi in connection with Special (NIA) Case No. 01 of 2021, corresponding to RC Case No.01/2021/NIA/RNC, arising out of Balumath PS Case No. 234 of 2020, subject to the condition that the appellant shall remain physically present on each and every date before the learned trial Court till the conclusion of trial. 9. This appeal is allowed. 10. Pending IA, if any, stands closed. (RONGON MUKHOPADHYAY, J.) S.B. (AMBUJ NATH, J.)