2026:JHHC:25127 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI B.A No. 3380 of 2026 Shankar Kumar Mahto, aged about 30 years, son of Dhaneshwar Mahto, resident of Village Syal, PO and PS- Keredari, District- Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) …… Petitioner Versus The State of Jharkhand …… Opp. Party --------- CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY PRASAD ---------- For the Petitioner : Mr. Sanjay Kumar Pandey, Advocate For the State :Mrs. Anuradha Sahay, APP ----------- 06/Dated:19th August, 2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the State. 2. The present bail application has been filed on behalf of petitioner who is in custody in connection with Bariyatu P. S. Case No. 33 of 2025 corresponding to S. T. No. 08 of 2026 registered for the offences under Sections 324(5), 324(6), 326(f), 308(5), 111(4) and 109(1) of the BNS and Section 27 of the Arms Act, which is pending in the Court of learned Additional Sessions Judge-III, Latehar. 3. The prosecution case is based on the written report of informant Kuldip Sao, alleging therein that on 03.07.2025 his Hywa Truck bearing Registration No. JH02BR-9715, which was being driven by the driver and load coal from Chatti Bariyatu, unloaded the coal in the Katkam Saudi. Thereafter he parked the vehicle near Fulbasiya Station Building at about 11:00 P.M. The driver has informed to the informant that unknown miscreants has set the vehicle on the fire and they opened fire about 2-3 round and they have stated that they are the members of Rahul Dubey gang, accordingly, the F.I.R. has been instituted. 2026:JHHC:25127 2 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the prayer for bail of the petitioner was rejected vide order dated 18.02.2026 in B.A. No. 11115 of 2025 by this Court with the certain observation and the petitioner has got several criminal antecedents. It is submitted that the petitioner is innocent and has committed no offence. It is submitted that nothing has been recovered from the possession of this petitioner and his name has been transpired on the basis of confessional statement of the co- accused namely Baleshwar Kumar @ Satya and even the said co- accused Baleshwar Kumar @ Satya has already been granted bail vide order dated 01.05.2026 in B.A. No. 2940 of 2026 by the Co- ordinate Bench (Hon’ble Mr. Deepak Roshan) of this Court. It is further submitted that the similarly situated co-accused persons, namely Mukesh Kumar @ Mukesh Yadav has also been granted bail vide order dated 16.03.2026 in B.A. No. 11653 of 2025 by the Co-ordinate Bench (Hon’ble Mr. Deepak Roshan) of this Court and the other similarly situated co-accused namely Awadhesh Kumar [vide order dated 30.04.2026 in B. A. No. 2850 of 2026], Roushan Kumar@ Roushan Singh [vide order dated 15.06.2026 in B. A. No. 2346 of 2026] and Mithun Lohra@ Vikas Ji @ Vikash Kumar [vide order dated 15.04.2026 in B. A. No. 11496 of 2026] have already been granted bail by the Co-ordinate Bench (Hon’ble Mr. Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary) of this Court and other co- accused namely Mukesh Yadav has already been granted bail by the Co-ordinate Bench (Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay) of this Court vide order dated 18.03.2026 in B. A. No. 722 of 2026 and other co-accused namely Prabhat Kumar Yadav @ Prabhat Yadav has already been granted bail by the Co- ordinate Bench (Hon’ble Mr. Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava) of this Court vide order dated 18.03.2026 in B. A. No. 05 of 2026. It 2026:JHHC:25127 3 is further submitted that other co-accused persons, who have been granted bail by this Court, were also having several criminal antecedents. It is submitted that the petitioner is in custody since 17.09.2025 and hence, the petitioner may be enlarged on bail. 5. On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor has opposed the prayer for bail and has submitted that the petitioner was involved in the crime along with other co-accused persons and members of gangster namely Rahul Dubey. It is further submitted that that the petitioner has got two (2) criminal antecedents as per para-71 of the case diary. It is further submitted that petitioner’s name has come in this case on the basis of confessional statement of co-accused, namely, Baleshwar Kumar @ Satya, which is mentioned at paragraph-54 of the case diary and hence, prayer for bail of the petitioner may be rejected. 6. Having heard learned counsels for the parties and from going through the records, it appears that earlier the prayer for bail of the petitioner was rejected vide order dated 18.02.2026 in B. A. No. 11115 of 2025 by this Court with the observation ‘at this stage’. 7. It appears from para-54 of the case diary that the name of the petitioner has been surfaced in this case on the basis of confessional statement of the co-accused namely, Baleshwar Kumar @ Satya and the said co-accused-Baleshwar Kumar @ Satya has already been enlarged on bail by the Co-ordinate Bench (Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Roshan) of this Court vide order dated 01.05.2026 in B.A. No. 2940 of 2026. 8. It also appears that the co-accused persons namely Mukesh Kumar @ Mukesh Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav, Raushan Kumar @ Raushan Singh, Mithun Lohra @ Vikash Ji @ Vikash Kumar, Mukesh Yadav and Prabhat Kumar Yadav @ Prabhat Yadav have 2026:JHHC:25127 4 already been granted bail by the different Co-ordinate Benches of this Court as mentioned above. 9. Considering the facts and in the circumstances of the case and the fact that similarly situated co-accused namely Baleshwar Kumar @ Satya, Mukesh Kumar @ Mukesh Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav, Raushan Kumar @ Raushan Singh, Mithun Lohra @ Vikash Ji @ Vikash Kumar, Mukesh Yadav and Prabhat Kumar Yadav @ Prabhat Yadav have already been granted bail by the different Co-ordinate Benches of this Court as mentioned above, the petitioner, namely, Shankar Kumar Mahto is directed to be released on bail, on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 15,000/- (Fifteen thousand only) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Additional Sessions Judge-III, Latehar or his successor Court in connection with Bariyatu P. S. Case No. 33 of 2025 corresponding to S. T. No. 08 of 2026, subject to the condition that one of the bailers must be own relative of the petitioner and also subject to condition that petitioner shall file an Undertaking before the learned Court below that he will not get indulged in such type of crime in future again, otherwise prosecution will be at liberty to take steps for cancellation his bail and the petitioner will submit self-attested copy of his Aadhar Card and also give his mobile number before the learned Court below which he will not change during pendency of this case without prior permission of the court. (Sanjay Prasad, J.) Dated 19.08.2026 Kamlesh/Shahid