Banshiram vs State Of Rajasthan

Madan Gopal Vyas, J

The petitioner has been arrested in connection with FIR No. 138/2018 of Police Station Kuchaman City, District Nagaur, for the offences punishable under Sections 332, 353, 323, 302, 307/34 IPC. He has preferred this second bail application under Section 439 Cr.P.C.

The first bail application of the petitioner was dismissed on 07.07.2021 with a direction to concerned trial Court to expeditiously dispose of the case and if possible, the trial be completed within a period of six months.

Arguing on this second bail application, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner has falsely been implicated in this case. It is further submitted that till date, out of 31 witnesses, only seven prosecution witnesses have been examined.

It is also submitted that complainant- Pokhar Ram (P.W.4) has not supported the prosecution story and has been declared hostile. It is also submitted that while rejecting first bail application of petitioner, learned trial Court was directed to expeditiously dispose of the case and if possible, the trial be completed within a period of six months but the trial is going on at snail’s pace. The petitioner is in judicial custody since 19.06.2018 and trial of the case will take long time. In support of his contentions, learned counsel has placed reliance on the judgments of Supreme Court in cases of Shashikant Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh passed in Criminal Appeal No.1430/2022 decided on 05.09.2022 and Mani Yadav Vs. State of Bihar passed in Special Leave to Appeal (Crl) No.9784/2022 decided on 03.03.2023. Therefore, it is prayed that the accused-petitioner may be enlarged on bail.

Learned Public Prosecutor has vehemently opposed the bail application and submitted that blood stained clothes were recovered from the petitioner and the prosecution witnesses viz. Parvatsingh (P.W.1), Pukhraj (P.W.2) and Rohitash (P.W.3) have supported the prosecution story, therefore, benefit of bail may not be granted to the accused-petitioner.

This Court, on perusing the statements of P.W.1, P.W.2 and P.W.3, observes that the trial of the case is going on at snail’s pace. The chief-examination of Parvatsingh (P.W.1) was completed on 04.01.2021 and his cross-examination was completed on 09.04.2021. Similarly, the chief-examination of Pukhraj (P.W.2) was completed on 04.01.2021 and cross-examination was completed on 20.10.2022 and the chief-examination of Rohitash (P.W.3) was completed on 04.01.2021 and cross-examination was completed on 20.10.2022. In view of the above, it is clear that the delay is not on the part of prosecution.

Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, and looking to the gravity of the offence, without commenting on the merits and demerits of the case, I am not inclined to grant bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C. to the petitioner, at this stage.

Accordingly, the second bail application preferred by the petitioner under Section 439 Cr.P.C. is rejected. However, learned trial Court is directed to expedite the trial of the case within a period of six months from today and no further unnecessary adjournment shall be given.

A copy of this order be sent to learned trial Court through E-mail or fax.