2026:HHC:23995 IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA. Cr.MP (M) No. 926 of 2026 Decided on   :  22.06.2026 Chetan …Applicant Versus State of Himachal Pradesh …Respondent Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Virender Singh,  Judge. Whether approved for reporting?1 For the applicant      :  Ms. Kanta Thakur, Advocate. For the respondent   : Mr. Mohinder Zharaick & Mr. H.S. Rawat,   Additional Advocates General,   with   Mr. Rohit   Sharma, Deputy Advocate General. Virender Singh, Judge (Oral) Applicant­Chetan,   has   filed   the   present application, under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha   Sanhita,   2023   (hereinafter   referred   to   as   the 'BNSS'), with a prayer to release him on bail, during the pendency   of   trial,   in   case   FIR   No.207   of   2024,   dated 25.08.2024, registered, under Sections 103, 117(2), 115(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter 1 Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes. 2 2026:HHC:23995 referred to as the ‘BNS’), with Police Station Baddi, District Solan, H.P. 2. According to the applicant, he has falsely been implicated, in the present case and has nothing to do with the crime in question. 3. As   per   the   applicant,   investigation,   in   the present case, is complete and final report has been filed before the learned trial Court. As such, no fruitful purpose would   be   served   by   keeping   the   applicant   in   judicial custody. 4. According   to   the   applicant,   nothing   is   to   be recovered from him or at his instance. 5. It is the further case of the applicant that he is permanent  resident   of   Haryana   and  is  having   the  deep roots in the society, as such, there is no chance of his absconding or fleeing away from justice. 6. Apart from this, the applicant, has given certain undertakings, for which, he is ready to abide by, in case, ordered to be released, on bail, during the pendency of the trial. 3 2026:HHC:23995 7. The applicant has also tried his luck, by moving similar application, before the Court of learned Additional Sessions   Judge,   Nalagarh,   however,   the   same   was dismissed on 07.01.2026. 8. Learned   counsel   for   the   applicant   has   also submitted that the applicant is also entitled to the relief of bail on the ground of parity as his co­accused Ajay Kumar, Yog Raj, Ram Karan, and Prakash Kumar, have already been released, on bail, by this Court. 9. On the basis of the above facts, a prayer has been made to allow the application. 10. When   put   to   notice,   the   police   has   filed   the status   report   disclosing   therein,   on   25.08.2024,   HC Amarjeet Singh No.48, I.O., had given the information qua the  fact that  he  noticed  two   persons;  one  was  lying   in injured condition and the other was lying unconscious, at a place known as Sandoli Khawadian and he was taking both the persons to CHC Baddi for treatment. 10.1. Thereafter,   Inspector/SHO,   along   with   other police   official,   reached   at   CHC   Baddi,   where   the   two persons were taken by the I.O.  Injured Lakshmi Kant was 4 2026:HHC:23995 declared as fit to make statement, and was referred to PGI Chandigarh   for   further   treatment,   whereas,   the   other person namely Rahul Rai, was declared dead. 10.2. Statement   of   the   complainant   was   recorded under Section 173 BNSS, wherein, he had disclosed that he is resident of village Pawa, Tehsil Bustabad, District Unnav, UP and is residing in a rented accommodation at Panchkula, along with three other persons. Rahul is his friend. 10.3. On   25.08.2024,   all   the   four   persons   had boarded a bus and at about 3.30 p.m., they reached Baddi, where   the   companion   of   Rahul   had   gone   to   purchase Ganja. When Rahul was purchasing Ganja, then a scuffle took place with the person, who had allegedly sold Ganja to them, as Rahul had not paid the amount to him. The other party was from the locality, as such, they came there along with Dandas in their hands and all the four persons were beaten by them. 10.4. According   to   the   complainant,   the   assailants were not known to him, however, he could identify them, if 5 2026:HHC:23995 produced before him. They all were stated to be of 22­27 years of age. 10.5. Thereafter,   the   police   registered   the   FIR,   in question and criminal machinery swung into motion. 11. During investigation, the spot was visited by the team of expert of FSL. Dead body of Rahul Rai was sent for postmortem examination to IGMC. After postmortem, the   dead   body   was   handed   over   to   the   relatives   for performing the last rites. 12. As per the further investigation, involvement of accused Chetan Singh(applicant), Ram Karan and Karan Kumar @ Soni was found. All the three were inquired and were   arrested   on   26.08.2024   at   7.35   p.m.     Since, complainant   Lakshmi   Kant   had   got   recorded,   in   his statement, that the assailants were not known to him, as such,   test   identification   parade   was   proposed   to   be conducted. 13. In   the   further   investigation,   accused   Nitin Kashyap, Sonu Kumar, Chhotu, Bablu Ahirwar, Shantanu, and Praveen, were arrested on 27.08.2024. Thereafter, on 30.08.2024,   accused   Ravi   Kumar   was   arrested. On 6 2026:HHC:23995 01.09.2024, accused Ajay Kumar was produced before the I.O., he was also arrested on 1.09.2024. All the accused, who were arrested, in this case, their faces were muffled to conceal their identification. 14. Thereafter,   on   4.9.2024,   accused   Rahul   @ Happy was arrested. On 7.9.2024, accused Rahul Kumar has identified the place of occurrence. The said fact was documented. On 10.09.2024, accused Sonu Kumar, also made   statement   under   Section   23   of   the  Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the BSA’)   and   got   recovered   bamboo   stick,   which   was   also taken into possession. Similarly accused Karan Kumar @ Soni, has made the statement under Section 23 of the BSA and got recovered the  danda  which was also taken into possession. CDRs   of   mobile   numbers   of   the   accused persons were obtained. 15. On 14.09.2024, accused Prakash Kumar was also arrested. On 16.09.2024, accused Prakash Kumar got recovered a scanner, which was also taken into possession. On 18.09.2024, accused Lukesh @ Jassi was arrested. On 7 2026:HHC:23995 19.09.2024, accused Yograj was arrested. On 6.11.2024, accused Rakib was also arrested. 16. It is the further case of the Police that accused Ajay Kumar, along with his companion was found moving on motorcycle towards Katha and he was identified on the basis of the CCTV Footage. However, Ajay Kumar was not found involved in the quarrel, which had taken place in the parking of Truck Union, Baddi. 17. On 4.09.2024, test identification parade was got conducted   by   learned   Judicial   Magistrate   First   Class, Court   No.2,   Nalagarh. Applicant   was   identified   by   the complainant, as well as, Ankush. 18. After   completion   of   the   investigation,   final report was filed in the Court, on 23.11.2024, against the applicant and his co­accused. 19. As per the status report applicant Chetan Singh along with CCL reached at the spot and thereafter, accused Sonu, Nitin Kashyap, Karan Kumar @ Sonu Bangala, Ravi Kumar, Shantanu, Rakib and Anmol @ Tejua have beaten 8 2026:HHC:23995 deceased Rahul Rai, Laxmikant, Ankush and Navneet @ Shiva, with danda. 20. Thereafter,   applicant   Chetan   Singh,   made   a video call to Yog Raj and shown the pictures of injured, upon which, accused Yog Raj has directed the applicant Chetan Singh, through video call to teach them a lesson and   directed   them   to   recover   the   phone,   as   well   as, amount. He has also directed applicant Chetan to take them to their den, upon which, as per the directions of Yog Raj, applicant Chetan, along within his companions Pankaj @ Panku and Prakash etc., took the injured in their vehicle No.HP49­J­4947, to the den of Yog Ram at Chakka road. 21. Accused   Karan   Kumar   @   Sonu   Bangala   and Shantanu   have   tonsure   the   head   of   Rahul   Rai   and thereafter they took all the injured in their vehicle to village Katha. The vehicle used in the crime was found to be registered in the name of applicant Chetan Singh. Injured Ankush   also   identified   Chetan   Singh   in   the   Test Identification Report. 9 2026:HHC:23995 22. As   per   the   status   report,   against   applicant Chetan Singh, the following cases have been found to have been registered:­ i) FIR No. 158 /21, dated 2.7.2021, under Section 39(1) HP Excise Act, with Police Station, Baddi; ii) FIR No. 18, dated 27.02.2026, under  Section 121(1), 132 191(2) and 190 of BNS, with Police Station Manpura; and iii) FIR No.73/23, dated 10.02.2023, under Section 427, 452 and 506 IPC, Police Station, Pinjour. 23. On the basis of the above facts, a prayer has been made to dismiss the application. 24. So far as the question granting of bail on the ground of parity, as according to the applicant, his co­ accused Yog Raj, Lokesh, Ajay Kumar and Ram Karan have already been released on bail, by this Court, is concerned, the same is not applicable, in the present case, as the principle   of   parity   is   applicable   only   in   the   situation, where, the role attributed to the applicant, is similar to the role attributed to the co­accused, who have been enlarged on bail. Here a specific role has been alleged against the applicant and applicant Chetan singh has been identified by   the   eye   witness,   as   well   as,   injured   in   the   Test 10 2026:HHC:23995 Identification Parade. As such, the principle of parity does not apply in the present case, as the role of the applicant is altogether  different  from  that  of the  other  accused who have been enlarged on bail, by this Court. 25. Seriousness of the allegations is also one of the grounds for deciding the question of bail. In case, the applicant   is   ordered   to   be   released   on   bail,   it   will   give wrong signal to the society that after committing such a heinous offence, the applicant is still moving freely in the society. Moreover, it will encourage other people to take law in their hands. 26. So far as the alleged delay in trial is concerned, FIR in this case, was registered on 25.08.2024 and out of 61   witnesses,   12   witnesses   have   been   examined   and   9 have been given up. 27. Considering the said fact, this Court is satisfied with the pace of trial. Moreover, the case is now fixed for recording the statements of prosecution witnesses on 1, 3, 5,7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 21 and 22.09.2026. As such, it cannot be said that there is undue delay in the trial. 11 2026:HHC:23995 28. At the time of deciding the question of granting the relief to the applicant, in such type of cases, a delicate balance has to be maintained, between the larger interest of the society and the individual liberty. 29. Considering all these fact, there is no occasion for   this   Court   to   release   the   applicant   on   bail. Consequently, the present application is dismissed. 30. Any of the observations made herein above shall not be taken as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case as these observations are confined only to the disposal of the present bail application. ( Virender Singh ) Judge June 22, 2026(ps)