THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIRCUIT BENCH AT JALPAIGURI 28. 07-04-2025 CRM (DB) 149 of 2025 (ct. no.04) S. De (Allowed) In Re: An Application for Bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as amended under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 in connection with Darjeeling Sadar Police Station Case No. 213 of 2017 dated 13.10.2017 under Sections 353, 120B, 307 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 read with Sections 25, 25(1A), 25(1AA), 25(1B), 25(2), 27 and 35 of the Arms Act, 1959 read with Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substance Act. And In the matter of : Prakash Gurung. …Petitioner. Mr. J. Periwal, Mr. Rajesh Kr. Sharma, Mr. Yogestg Diyali, ……for the Petitioner. Mr. Rudradipta Nandy, Ld. APP, ……for the State. 1. Learned advocate for the petitioner and learned advocate for the opposite party/State of West Bengal are present. 2. Heard learned advocates for the parties. 3. Perused the materials in the case diary. 4. The petitioner was arrested on March 8, 2025, in connection with Darjeeling Sadar Police Station Case No. 213 of 2017 dated 13.10.2017. Learned advocate for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is falsely implicated in the instant case and the purpose of implication is political reasons. He further submits that the co-accused persons in this case are granted bail along with the principal accused who has been granted anticipatory bail. 5. Learned advocate for the opposite party draws my attention to the materials-on-record from where it appears that on the 2 date of incident, several arms and ammunitions were recovered from the place of occurrence. Learned advocate also submits that this petitioner had different antecedents and the involvement goes to show that he has a role in disrupting peace in that area. 6. Now, considering the fact that the co-accused persons are on bail, whether the petitioner should be enlarged on bail being on the same footing. It appears that the co-accused persons are granted bail after a period of six years in custody when this co-accused person was absconding. Learned advocate further submits that some co-accused persons are absconding in the instant case. 7. Learned advocate for the petitioner on this ground had relied upon different cases pending against him in different Courts being 14 in number and submits that the petitioner had all along appeared in these cases. In some cases he had obtained bail and in some cases the State Government has withdrawn the allegations and he was discharged. 8. Learned advocate for the opposite party/Stated of West Bengal has also relied upon an intelligence report with regard to the petitioner showing his involvement in other cases. It is submitted by the learned advocate for the petitioner that although WPA was issued, WPA was stayed by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court but the petitioner was granted liberty to surrender which was not availed by the petitioner. 3 9. Upon perusal of the materials-on-record in the case and upon hearing the learned advocates, it appears that pursuant to the order passed by this co-ordinate Bench of this Court on 19.02.2025, the petitioner did not surrender which goes to show that his conduct is not satisfactory. However, considering the period of detention undergone by the petitioner which is 30 days and the fact that some of the co- accused persons are on bail and this case involves examination of 78 witnesses for which trial cannot be completed within a short period of time, the petitioner accused person should be granted a reasonable opportunity to remain on bail. 10. I, therefore, allow the prayer for bail made by the accused person. 11. Accordingly, I direct that the petitioner, namely Prakash Gurung shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.10,000/- , with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local to the satisfaction of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Darjeeling, subject to the conditions that the petitioner shall not enter into the Darjeeling district except Siliguri and the petitioner shall reside at Siliguri and meet the Officer-in-Charge, Siliguri Police Station once in a week until further orders and on further conditions that he shall not take part in any agitation or in any political gathering or any protest meeting. However, the petitioner 4 shall attend Court in Darjeeling with regard to the cases pending against him. 12. We make it clear that our observations are only in the bail application and will not affect the trial of the case. 13. The petitioner shall appear before the trial Court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate the witnesses and/or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever. 14. In the event the petitioner fails to adhere to any of the conditions stipulated above without justifiable cause, the trial court shall be at liberty to cancel the petitioner’s bail in accordance with law without further reference to this court. 15. The application for bail is, accordingly, allowed. 16. All parties shall act in terms of server copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court. (Biswaroop Chowdhury, J.)