Bina Dhar Choudhury vs State Of Tripura

Biswajit Palit, J

This bail application under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. is filed for granting bail to the accused person in custody namely, Shri Pradyut Dhar Choudhury in connection with Airport PS case No.37 of 2024 for the offence punishable under Section 302/120B of IPC read with Section 27 of the Arms Act.

Heard Learned Senior Counsel, Mr. Debalay Bhattacharya assisted by Learned Counsel Mr. Agniva Chakrabarti appearing on behalf of the accused person in custody. Also heard Learned Spl. P.P., Mr. Sankar Lodh along with Learned P.P., Mr. Raju Datta appearing on behalf of the State-respondent.

At the time of hearing, Learned Senior Counsel for the accused person in custody first of all drawn the attention of this Court that by order dated 30.10.2025, the accused person was granted interim bail till 03.11.2025. Learned Senior Counsel submitted that the accused person has complied with the conditions of bail granted to him and on 04.11.2025 he has surrendered before the Learned Trial Court. In support of the bail application, Learned Senior Counsel for the accused in custody has further drawn the attention of this Court that the present accused was twice granted interim bail, one by the Learned Lower Court and also by this Court. However, considering the long incarceration of the accused in jail firstly w.e.f. 01.05.2024 and secondly w.e.f. 15.02.2025, the accused deserves to be released on bail. Learned Senior Counsel for the accused in custody further submitted that he is highly diabetic and suffering from severe ailment. He also had to undergo surgery of heart. Further, referring Para No.18 of his bail application Learned Senior Counsel submitted that the accused was admitted in the hospital w.e.f 02.09.2025 to 01.10.2025 being referred by the Jail authority and he has to take Insulin twice a day due to his ill health. As such, considering the physical condition of the accused in custody, Learned Senior Counsel urged for releasing the accused on bail. Learned Senior Counsel further submitted that there is no dispute on record that due to the alleged commission of offence one person namely, Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki had lost his life. The accused was not present to the place of occurrence at the time of alleged commission of offence but, as he was one of the member of Bharat Ratna Club at one point of time, as such, he has been falsely implicated with the alleged offence. Furthermore, according to Learned Senior Counsel for the accused in custody in course of investigation the prosecution could not collect any direct materials against him to show his clear involvement with the alleged offence. So, in summing up Learned Senior Counsel for the accused in custody urged for releasing him on bail in any condition.

On the other hand, Learned Spl. P.P., Mr. Lodh appearing on behalf of the State-respondent strongly opposed the bail application and drawn the attention of this Court that earlier the accused in custody violated the conditions of bail for which the Court was compelled to issue warrant of arrest against him and he was taken into custody in execution of warrant of arrest. So, the conduct of the accused was not at all satisfactory. Learned Spl. P.P. further submitted that the accused in custody was the main conspirator in respect of the murder of the deceased because he was once the President of Bharat Ratna Club and during his tenure he and his associates were involved in negotiation business with the CPWD office in respect of tenders. However, after the formation of new committee in 2024, he was removed from his post and said Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki (deceased) was made Secretary of the said club. The accused in custody, therefore, intended to eliminate said Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki and made conspiracy with Raju Barman, the previous Secretary of Bharat Ratna Club and other accused persons for which said Durga Prasanna Deb lost his life. It was further submitted by Learned Spl. P.P. that in course of investigation it was revealed that the present accused knew Susmita Sarkar’s family(another co-accused) very well. He had given all information to another accused Raju Barman about the fact that Susmita Sarkar was approached by Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki for having physical relation with her, which she declined, so that Raju Barman could use Susmita Sarkar as honey trap for eliminating Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki. Learned Spl. P.P. submitted that the accused in custody was the direct conspirator of the murder of said Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki and had made 8 hours 37 minutes long call with another co-accused Raju Barman from 1.03.2024 to 30.04.2024 and on 30.04.2024 immediately after the alleged occurrence said Raju Barman called Pradyut Dhar Choudhury to abscond. So, according to Learned Spl. P.P. if at this stage he is released on bail the trial of this case will be badly hampered.

It was further submitted by Learned Spl. P.P. that the present accused is F.I.R. named and in the initial F.I.R. laid by one SI Srikanta Guha there was name of the present accused in custody. In the subsequent F.I.R. laid by Bulti Deb, wife of the deceased there was also direct implication of the accused with the alleged commission of offence. So, Learned Spl. P.P. urged for dismissal of the present bail application.

I have heard both the sides at length and perused the record of the Learned Trial Court and also perused the case diary produced by the prosecution.

The trial of this case has not yet been commenced.

The prosecution was set into motion on the basis of an F.I.R. laid by one SI, Sri Srikanta Guha to O/C Airport PS on 01.05.2024 alleging inter alia that on 30.04.2024 at about 2025 hours he received one telephonic information that a person was shot dead at Hatipara under Airport PS. Consequently upon receiving the information he along with his staff rushed to the spot and found one body lying by the side of the road with bullet injury. Immediately, with the help of local public the body was shifted to ILS Hospital when the attending doctor declared him dead. It was also came to the knowledge of the SI, Sri Srikanta Guha that on that day at about 2010 hours one miscreant shot one Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki (deceased) while he was sitting in a vehicle bearing No.TR06-A0745 which was parked at Hatipara infront of one medicine shop of Sri Bikash Das of Shalbagan BSF Para and due to bullet injury he fell down on the road from the vehicle and the miscreants fled away. Subsequently from the kin relatives of the deceased, it came to his knowledge that one Raju Barman, Rakesh Barman, Debabrata Barman, Biman Das and Pradyut Dhar Choudhury made criminal conspiracy and were involved in the commission of murder of said Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki. On the basis of this suo moto complaint, Airport PS case No.37/2024 was registered under Section 302/120B of IPC read with Section 27 of Arms Act.

Later on, another F.I.R. was laid by one Bulti Deb, the wife of the deceased which was tagged with the main case.

It is also on record that earlier on two occasions the bail of the present accused in custody was rejected by this Court.

I have also perused the charge-sheet submitted by the I.O. and the statement of witnesses so far collected by the I.O. in course of investigation of this case.

It is on record that the present accused in custody was once upon a time the President of Bharat Ratna Club along with one Raju Barman who was also the Secretary of the said club and they were involved in some negotiation business. However, later on they were removed from their portfolios and said Durga Prasanna Deb was made Secretary of that Club. For that reason the present accused and others made criminal conspiracy to eliminate him and said Durga Prasanna Deb lost his life. The investigation of this case is completed and the trial is yet to be commenced. It is also on record that earlier the present accused was granted interim bail but he did not surrender before the Court so he was taken into custody. The accused also approached for bail before Learned Sessions Court which was rejected and later on, this Court also rejected his bail application twice. The conduct of the accused was not at all satisfactory.

At the time of hearing, Learned Senior Counsel further tried to draw the attention of this Court that another co-accused Shani Saha Roy has been granted bail by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India vide order dated 15.10.2025 in connection with SLP (Crl.) No.12103 of 2025.

However, considering the materials so far collected by the I.O. in course of investigation, the direct involvement of the accused in custody with the criminal conspiracy which led to the death of said Durga Prasanna Deb @ Biki cannot be ruled out. So, I do not find any scope to release the accused on bail at this stage rather his release on bail may hamper the trial of this case.

Hence, the bail application is rejected. The accused is to remain in J/C as before. The Superintendent Jail shall extend all medical facilities to the accused time to time subject to the need of the accused person.

Send down the record to the Learned Trial Court along with a copy of this order. Also return back the CD to I.O. through Learned P.P. along with a copy of this order. Also a copy of this order be sent to Superintendent Kendriya Sansodhanagar Tripura, Bishalgarh for information and compliance.