HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 13762 of 2026 Court No. - 66 HON'BLE SAMEER JAIN, J. 1. The instant matter has been nominated to this Bench by the Hon'ble The Chief Justice. 2. Sri Vijay Bahadur Maurya, learned AGA apprised the Court that notice has been served upon the informant. As despite service of notice none appeared on behalf of the informant and, therefore, with the assistance of learned counsel appearing on behalf of the High Court Legal Services and learned AGA the instant bail application is being heard and disposed of. 3. Heard Sri Sanjay Kumar Shukla, learned counsel for the applicant, Ms. Priyanka Srivastava, learned counsel for the High Court Legal Services and Sri Vijay Bahadur Maurya, learned AGA for the State. 4. The instant bail application has been filed seeking release of the applicant on bail in Case Crime No.767 of 2021, under Sections 363, 366, 376DA, 376(2)(N), 323, 506 IPC and Section 3/4(2), 5(L)/6 POCSO Act, Police Station Faridpur, District Bareilly, during pendency of the trial. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant submits, applicant is innocent and on the basis of false allegation he has been made accused in the present matter. 6. He further argued, however, victim in her statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. made allegation of gang rape and according to her, applicant, co-accused Mitrapal and Sonu after abducting her committed Versus Counsel for Applicant(s) : Sanjay Kumar Shukla Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A., Priyanka Srivastava Pappu .....Applicant(s) State Of U.P. And 3 Others .....Opposite Party(s) rape upon her but earlier when statement of the victim was recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. then she categorically stated that she had gone along with the co-accused Sonu and she did not even disclose the name of applicant and, therefore, her statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. is in contradiction with her earlier statement recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. and it reflects, victim on the instigation of informant before the Magistrate, subsequently, started making allegations of gang rape and no reliance can be placed on her subsequent statement. 7. He next submits, applicant is not having any previous criminal history and in the present matter he is in jail since 01.04.2026 i.e. for last one and half months. 8. Per contra, learned AGA and learned counsel appearing on behalf of High Court Legal Services opposed the prayer for bail but could not dispute the argument on facts advanced by learned counsel for the applicant. 9. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record of the case. 10. However, as per school record, victim was aged about 13 years and she in her statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. made allegation of gang rape against applicant, co-accused Mitrapal and Sonu but earlier when her statement was recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. then she did not even disclose the name of the applicant and categorically stated that she knew co-accused Sonu and she herself had gone along with him and, therefore, there are material contradictions in both the statements of the victim recorded under Section 161 and 164 Cr.P.C. and considering this fact this Court finds merit in the argument advanced by learned counsel for the applicant that prima facie her subsequent statement recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. does not appear to be reliable. 11. Further, applicant is not having any previous criminal history and in the present matter he is in jail since 01.04.2026 i.e. for last one and half month. 12. Further, the law is settled unless proven guilty an accused is deemed BAIL No. 13762 of 2026 2 to be innocent and his bail application should not be rejected either for preventive or punitive purpose. 13. Therefore, considering the facts and circumstances of the case discussed above, in my view, applicant is entitled to be released on bail. 14. Accordingly, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the instant bail application is allowed. 15. Let the applicant - Pappu be released on bail in the aforesaid case on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned with the following conditions:- (i) The applicant shall appear before the trial court on the dates fixed, unless his personal presence is exempted. (ii) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly, make inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or any police officer or tamper with the evidence. (iii) The applicant shall not indulge in any criminal and anti-social activity. 16. In case of breach of any of the above condition, the prosecution will be at liberty to move an application before this Court for cancellation of the bail of the applicant. 17. 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. May 12, 2026 S.A. BAIL No. 13762 of 2026 3 (Sameer Jain,J.) Digitally signed by :- SALMAN AHMAD High Court of Judicature at Allahabad