Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:133842 Court No. - 65 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 27270 of 2025 Applicant :- Sandeep Budholiya Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Lavlesh Kumar Sharma Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Krishan Pahal,J. 1. List has been revised. 2. Heard Sri Lavlesh Kumar Sharma, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Arun Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the informant as well as Sri Sunil Kumar, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record. 3. Applicant seeks bail in Case Crime No. 49 of 2025, under Sections 80(2), 85 BNS and Section 3/4 of D.P. Act, Police Station Kotwali, District Jhansi, during the pendency of trial. 4. As per prosecution story, marriage of the applicant was solemnized with the deceased person as per Hindu rites on 27.02.2019. Subsequent to it, a baby daughter was born out of the said wedlock. The applicant and other family members are stated to have subjected the deceased to cruelty for demand of a car as dowry and thereby led her to death in the night of 16.02.2025. 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 incident is of 22:39 hours on 16.02.2025 and the FIR has been instituted at 15:26 hours on 17.02.2025. The said delay has not been explained. The cause of death has been found to be asphyxia as a result of ante mortem hanging. 6. Learned counsel has next stated that innocence of the applicant is but evident from the fact that there is CCTV footage recording of the incident and the Investigating Officer had taken up the said recording whereby it is shown in the incident that the deceased had committed suicide by hanging herself after closing the door from inside and the applicant had broken open the door as per the said CCTV footage. 7. Learned counsel has further argued that no statement of daughter of the applicant and the deceased has been recorded by the I.O., as such it is a clear cut case of false implication. Earlier on, an FIR was instituted against the applicant but the matter was settled between their family members, as such applicant is entitled for bail. The co-accused mother-in-law of the deceased has been enlarged on bail by the trial court. The other named co-accused persons have been exonerated by the police. 8. Per contra, learned A.G.A. and learned counsel for the informant have vehemently opposed the bail on the ground that there was an earlier FIR instituted against the applicant and other family members which was registered as FIR No.114 of 2022 under sections 498A, 323 and 504 IPC and Section 3/4 of D.P. Act at the same police station. It is an open and shut case as allegations of demand of dowry earlier on also made against the applicant. There is demand of dowry soon before the death in the instant case, as such applicant is not entitled for bail. 9. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and taking into consideration the fact that the deceased had expired within the precincts of the house of the applicant coupled by the fact that there was an earlier FIR also lodged by the deceased person regarding demand of dowry, I do not find it a fit case for grant of bail to the applicant. 10. The bail application is found devoid of merits and is, accordingly, rejected. 11. 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. 12. 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 :- 7.8.2025 Sumit S (Justice Krishan Pahal) Digitally signed by :- SUMIT SRIVASTAVA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad