$~3 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + BAIL APPLN. 448/2026 SHIVAM .....Applicant Through: Mr. Vikram Dua, Mr. Vinod Kumar, Mr. Deepak Kumar Singh Advs. versus STATE OF N.C.T. OF DELHI, THROUGH SHO. PS. PATEL NAGAR .....Respondent Through: Mr. Raghuinder Verma, APP for the State with Insp. Deepak Dariya, with SI Dharmendra Singh, PS: Patel Nagar, Insp. Kuldeep Sharma, PS: DPA Dwarka Mr. Sidheshwar Lal, Mr. Gaurav Malik, Ms. Anita Kamath and Ms. Sidhi Arora, Advs. for complainant CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SAURABH BANERJEE O R D E R % 28.07.2026 1. The applicant, vide the present application under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) [erstwhile Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C)] seeks grant of regular bail in proceedings arising out of FIR No.427/2022 registered at PS.: Patel Nagar, Delhi under Sections 302/365/364/201/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 2. Fresh Status Report handed over by learned APP is taken on record. 3. As per the case set up by the prosecution, it is alleged that on 01.07.2022, the applicant alongwith three others arrived on two scooters This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/08/2026 at 10:47:40 and abducted the complainant’s 17 year old son from Gali No.1, Prem Nagar, Delhi. CCTV footage collected during investigation is stated to implicate the accused persons, including the applicant, in the said kidnapping. 4. Thereafter, based on a tip received, the accused persons were apprehended from Abu Park, West Patel Nagar on 03.07.2022. During interrogation, they disclosed that the offence was committed to avenge an earlier altercation of 28.06.2022. They also disclosed having taken the minor boy to a secluded forest area near Todapur, where he was murdered with a wooden stick and a knife. To conceal the identity and destroy the evidence, his clothes and slippers, along with a blood-stained shirt belonging to one of the co-accused persons were burnt and the body of the minor boy was buried in a pit, and the weapon discarded at Abu Park. Based whereon, recoveries of the burnt clothes, slippers, wooden stick, and the deceased’s body from the forest area near Todapur and weapon i.e. blood-stained knife from Abu Park were recovered. 5. In this factual backdrop, this Court has heard learned counsels for the applicant and for complainant, as also the learned APP, and gone through the documents and materials on record. 6. The facts reveal that the applicant alongwith the co-accused persons are clearly visible in the CCTV footage forcibly kidnapping the minor child. The same was followed by his brutal murder, which was committed in a heinous manner. Not only that, the applicant was privy to hiding the dead body of the said minor child and also the weapon used for committing the offence. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/08/2026 at 10:47:40 7. Interestingly, as per order sheets of the learned Trial Court shown, there are previous allegations of the applicant intimidating the witnesses, there is an apprehension that the applicant, if released on bail, may try to derail the proceedings by tampering with the evidence and/ or hampering the evidence and/ or intimidating the witnesses once again. 8. Also, as per the Nominal Roll received, the conduct of the applicant has been ‘Unsatisfactory’ inside jail. 9. All the above factors take precedence, even though the applicant has been in judicial custody since 03.07.2022 i.e. for almost four years, and out of forty two (42) witnesses only four (4) have been examined till date, and there is a delay in conclusion of trial. Thus, taking note of the overall facts and circumstances, particularly, the manner in which the alleged offence has been committed, the severity of the punishment prescribed, the present application is dismissed. 10. Needless to say, expression of view(s) on the merits, if any, are solely for the purposes of adjudication of the present application and shall have no bearing on the overall case/ trial involved. SAURABH BANERJEE, J JULY 28, 2026/So/DA This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/08/2026 at 10:47:40