34 05-03-2025 (ct. no. 29) KOLE Allowed CRM (DB) 361 of 2025 In re: An application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure/Section 483 of the BNSS in connection with Sagar Police Station Case No. 57 of 2016 dated 29.03.2016 under Sections 376D/363/302/306/34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. - A n d - In the matter of : Sudipta Jana .... Petitioner. Mr. Deepak Prahladka, Ms. Reshmi Khatun, … For the Petitioner. Ms. Sreyashee Biswas, Mrs. N. Ahmed, … For the State. Mr. Uday Shankar Chattopadhyay, Ms. T. Rakshit, Ms. R. Tah, Ms. A. Datta, ….. for the defacto complainant. Order dictated by Arijit Banerjee, J.: 1. Status report filed by the State be kept with the records. 2. The petitioner says that he is in custody now for about eight years eleven months. While rejecting his prayer for bail on January 19, 2024, in CRM (DB) 4067 of 2023, a Coordinate Bench had observed : “we give last opportunity to the prosecution to conclude its evidence within one year from the next date fixed for recording evidence”. 3. We see that the Investigating Officer is yet to be examined. Therefore, the evidence has not concluded. The next date is March 21, 2025. 4. 8 years 11 months is far too long a period of time to keep an under-trial accused in incarceration. We have repeatedly said 2 that the prosecution may have the strongest possible case against an accused person. Nobody stops the prosecution from securing conviction of such a person so that he can be punished in accordance with law. However, no citizen can be kept detained in judicial custody for an unreasonably long period of time pending conclusion of the trial. 5. In the present case we do not see that the delay in progress of the trial can be attributed substantially or to any extent to the petitioner. Hence, without touching the merits of the case and solely on the touchstone of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, we feel constrained to enlarge the petitioner on bail. 6. Accordingly, we direct that the petitioner, namely, Sudipta Jana, 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 Special Judge under the POCSO Act, Alipore, South 24 Parganas subject to condition that he shall appear before the trial court on every date of hearing until further orders and shall not intimidate witnesses or tamper with evidence in any manner whatsoever and on further condition that the petitioner while on bail shall not enter within the jurisdiction of the Sagar police station and shall meet the I.C of the concerned police station, where he will reside, once in a fortnight until further orders. 7. 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. 8. The application for bail is, accordingly, allowed. 3 9. All parties shall act in terms of server copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court. ( Prasenjit Biswas, J. ) ( Arijit Banerjee, J. )