31.03.2026 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Item No.78 CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION Ct.No.35 dc. Allowed C.R.M. (M) 554 of 2026 In Re : An Application for bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 corresponding to Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 filed in connection with Jamalpur Police Station Case No. 354 of 2019 dated 27.10.2019 under Sections 302/392/397/ 411/34 of the Indian Penal Code. And In Re : Prasanta Khetrapal ... Petitioner. Mr. Biswajit Manna ... For the Petitioner. Mr. Avishek Sinha, Mr. Asif Dewan ... For the State. Learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is in custody since 03.11.2019 and till date, prosecution has been able to examine eight witnesses. Learned advocate appearing for the State impresses this Court on the merits of the case, but is unable to satisfy this Court regarding the cause of delay. As 21 witnesses have been proposed in the charge- sheet by the prosecution in support of its case and for 6 years 4 months the petitioner is in custody, I am of the opinion that substantial time more would be consumed in completion of the trial. Having regard to the period of detention of the present petitioner without entering into the merits of the case, I am inclined to release the petitioner on bail. As such, the prayer for bail of the petitioner is allowed. 2 Accordingly, the petitioner viz., Prasanta Khetrapal shall be released on bail upon furnishing bond of Rs.20,000/-, with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Purba Bardhaman. If on bail, the petitioner shall be physically present on each and every date so fixed by the learned Trial Court and shall not leave the jurisdiction of the district of Purba Bardhaman without prior permission of the learned Trial Court. The Trial Court being the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track 1st Court, Burdwan would, if it feels for ensuring appearance of the petitioner, impose additional conditions as it deems fit and proper. The application for bail, being CRM (M) 554 of 2026, is, thus, disposed of. All concerned parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities. (Tirthankar Ghosh, J.)