Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:122610 Court No. - 67 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 10977 of 2025 Applicant :- Chandra Shekhar Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Gauri Shanker Mishra,Rahul Mishra Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Sanjay Kumar Singh,J. Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned Additional Government Advocate representing the State. The instant bail application has been filed on behalf of the applicant with a prayer to release him on bail in Case Crime No. 65 of 2025, under Sections 319(2), 318(4), 61(2)(a), 338, 336(3), 340(2) of B.N.S. and Section 4/13 of the U.P. Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, Police Station Mauaima, District Allahabad. Main substratum of argument of learned counsel for the applicant is that the applicant has been falsely implicated in this case. F.I.R. has been lodged on 04.03.2025 against applicant-Chandra Shekhar and nine other accused persons, namely, Amit Kumar, Supreme Singh, Arvind Kumar, Sanjeet Kumar, Vivek Kumar, Ranjeet Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Shashkant and Virendra Bahadur Singh for the alleged offence under Sections 319(2), 318(4), 61(2)(a) of B.N.S., 2023 and Section 4/13 of the U.P. Public Examination Act, 1998. The said Act of 1998 has been superseded by the new Act, namely, U.P. Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, which came into force with effect from 15.07.2024. On the strength of aforesaid submissions, it is next argued that F.I.R. has been lodged against the applicant without applying mind. Under the facts and circumstances of the case, the charge under Section 4/13 of the U.P. Public Examination Act, 1998 against the applicant is not sustainable. It is further submitted that co-accused Shashikant has been granted bail by the coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 16.05.2025 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 12633 of 2025, Amit Kumar and Vivek Kumar have been granted bail vide common order dated 27.05.2025 and Supreme Singh, Sanjeet Kumar and Ranjeet Kumar have also been granted bail by the coordinate Bench of this Court vide common order dated 27.05.2025 in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 14367 of 2025 and case of the present applicant stands on similar footing to that of co-accused Shashikant, Amit Kumar, Vivek Kumar, Supreme Singh, Sanjeet Kumar and Ranjeet Kumar, therefore, he may also be enlarged on bail on the ground of parity. Lastly, it is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that there is no chance of the applicant of fleeing away from the judicial process or tampering with the prosecution evidence. The applicant is languishing in jail since 04.03.2025 having no criminal history to his credit and in case he is released on bail, he will not misuse the liberty of bail and will cooperate in the early disposal of the case. Per contra, learned Additional Government Advocate for the State opposed the prayer for bail of the applicant but could not dispute the above factual aspect of the matter as argued on behalf of the applicant. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and examined the matter in its entirety, I find that it is not in dispute that U.P. Public Examination Act, 1998 has been superseded by the new Act of 2024 as noted above. Co-accused Shashikant, Amit Kumar, Vivek Kumar, Supreme Singh, Sanjeet Kumar and Ranjeet Kumar under similar acquisition have been granted bail as noted above, hence, the applicant has made out a prima facie case for bail. Hence, the bail application is hereby allowed. Let the applicant-Chandra Shekhar, be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions: (i) That the applicant shall cooperate with the expeditious disposal of the trial and shall regularly attend the court unless inevitable. (ii) That the applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat 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. (iii) That after his release, the applicant shall not involve in any criminal activity. (iv) The identity, status and residential proof of sureties will be verified by court concerned before the release of the applicant on bail. In case of breach of any of the conditions mentioned above, court concerned will be at liberty to cancel the bail of the applicant. It is made clear that the observations contained in the instant order are confined to the issue of bail only and shall not affect the merit of the trial. Order Date :- 25.7.2025 Kashifa Digitally signed by :- KASHIFA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad