Lovejeet Singh vs State Of Himachal Pradesh

Sandeep Sharma, J

Bail petitioner namely, Lovejeet Singh, who is behind the bars since 14.6.2019, has approached this Court in the instant proceedings filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, praying therein for grant of regular bail in case FIR No.22/2019, dated 13.6.2019, under Sections 363, 366, 376 of IPC and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,registered at Women Police Station, Solan, District Solan, Himachal Pradesh.

Sequel to order dated 23.9.2019, Inspector Naveen Jhalta has come present alongwith the record. Mr. Sudhir Bhatnagar, learned Additional General has also placed on record fresh status report, prepared on the basis of the investigation carried out by the Investigating Agency. Record perused and returned. Record of learned Court below stands received in terms of the previous order passed by this Court.

Record made available to this Court reveals that on 13.6.2019 complainant namely, Sh. Suresh Kumar lodged a complaint at Women Police Station, Solan, District Solan, H.P., alleging therein that her minor daughter (name withheld to protect her identity), had gone to school on 13.6.2019, but she has not returned back till date. He further alleged that he has suspicion that person namely, Vinod has made her daughter to elope with him taking undue advantage of her innocence and minority. On the basis of aforesaid complaint, police started investigation. On 14.6.2019, police recovered the prosecutrix from the old bus stand near Murari market, Solan. Police after recording the statement of the prosecutrix under Section 161 Cr.P.C, also got recorded her statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C. On the basis of aforesaid statements made by the prosecutrix, police registered the case against the bail petitioner under Sections 363, 366, 376 of IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act on 13.6.2019 and since 14.6.2019 bail petitioner is behind the bars.

Mr. Sudhir Bhatnagar, learned Additional Advocate General, while fairly stating that challan stands filed in the competent court of law and nothing remains to be recovered from the bail petitioner, contended that keeping in view the gravity of offence alleged to have been committed by the bail petitioner, he does not deserve any leniency. He further contended that bare perusal of the statement made by the prosecutrix, clearly reveals that bail petitioner taking undue advantage of innocence and minority of the prosecutrix not only harassed her, but also sexually assaulted her against her wishes and as such, prayer made on behalf of the petitioner for grant of bail may be rejected out rightly.

Having heard learned counsel representing the parties and perused the material available on record, especially statement made by the prosecutrix under Section 161 Cr.P.C, this Court finds that at no point of time bail petitioner compelled the prosecutrix to join his company, rather she of her own volition and with the help of her friend went to the room of the bail petitioner, where she was allegedly sexually assaulted against her wishes. Careful perusal of the statement made by the prosecutrix, clearly reveals that she had prior acquaintance with the bail petitioner because otherwise it is not believable that a girl/ lady would agree to spend night with the stranger. Though, story put forth by the prosecutrix is yet to be proved by the Investigating Agency by leading cogent and convincing evidence, but having carefully perused the statement of the prosecutrix coupled with the medical evidence adduced on record, this Court finds force in the argument of Mr. Vipin Pandit, learned counsel for the petitioner that bail petitioner and prosecutrix were known to each other and they had been meeting frequently in past also. No doubt, in the case at hand, age of the prosecutrix at the time of alleged incident was less then 18 years, but having taken note of her version/statement given to police, this Court is of the view that she was/is fully capable of understanding the consequences of her being in the company of the bail petitioner, to whom she knew for considerable time. Bail petitioner is 22 years old young boy presently pursuing his study at ITI Solan and as such, his freedom cannot be curtailed for indefinite period during trial.

Though, aforesaid aspects of the matter are to be considered and decided by the learned trial Court on the basis of totality of evidence to be collected on record by the prosecution, but having noticed aforesaid glaring aspect of the matter, this Court sees no reason to let the bail petitioner incarcerate in jail for indefinite period, especially when challan stands filed in the competent court of law and nothing remains to be recovered from him. There is nothing on the record to suggest that in the event of petitioner's being enlarged on bail, he may flee from justice, rather he being local resident of the Himachal Pradesh shall always remain present for trial and investigation and as and when called by the Investigating Agency.

It has been repeatedly held by Hon'ble Apex Court as well as this Court in catena of cases that one is deemed to be innocent till the time his /her guilt is not proved, in accordance with law. In the case at hand, the guilt, if any, of the bail petitioner is yet to be proved, in accordance with law.

Recently, the Hon'ble Apex Court in Criminal Appeal No. 227/2018, Dataram Singh vs. State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr.,decided on 6.2.2018, has categorically held that a fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the presumption of innocence, meaning thereby that a person is believed to be innocent until found guilty. Hon'ble Apex Court further held that while considering prayer for grant of bail, it is important to ascertain whether the accused was participating in the investigations to the satisfaction of the investigating officer and was not absconding or not appearing when required by the investigating officer. Hon'ble Apex Court further held that if an accused is not hiding from the investigating officer or is hiding due to some genuine and expressed fear of being victimized, it would be a factor that a judge would need to consider in an appropriate case. The relevant paras of the aforesaid judgment are reproduced as under:

A fundamental postulate of criminal jurisprudence is the presumption of innocence, meaning thereby that a person is believed to be innocent until found guilty. However, there are instances in our criminal law where a reverse onus has been placed on an accused with regard to some specific offences but that is another matter and does not detract from the fundamental postulate in respect of other offences. Yet another important facet of our criminal jurisprudence is that the grant of bail is the general rule and putting a person in jail or in a prison or in a correction home (whichever expression one may wish to use) is an exception. Unfortunately, some of these basic principles appear to have been lost sight of with the result that more and more persons are being incarcerated and for longer periods. This does not do any good to our criminal jurisprudence or to our society.

There is no doubt that the grant or denial of bail is entirely the discretion of the judge considering a case but even so, the exercise of judicial discretion has been circumscribed by a large number of decisions rendered by this Court and by every High Court in the country. Yet, occasionally there is a necessity to introspect whether denying bail to an accused person is the right thing to do on the facts and in the circumstances of a case.

While so introspecting, among the factors that need to be considered is whether the accused was arrested during investigations when that person perhaps has the best opportunity to tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses. If the investigating officer does not find it necessary to arrest an accused person during investigations, a strong case should be made out for placing that person in judicial custody after a charge sheet is filed. Similarly, it is important to ascertain whether the accused was participating in the investigations to the satisfaction of the investigating officer and was not absconding or not appearing when required by the investigating officer. Surely, if an accused is not hiding from the investigating officer or is hiding due to some genuine and expressed fear of being victimised, it would be a factor that a judge would need to consider in an appropriate case. It is also necessary for the judge to consider whether the accused is a first­time offender or has been accused of other offences and if so, the nature of such offences and his or her general conduct. The poverty or the deemed indigent status of an accused is also an extremely important factor and even Parliament has taken notice of it by incorporating an Explanation to Section 436 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. An equally soft approach to incarceration has been taken by Parliament by inserting Section 436A in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

To put it shortly, a humane attitude is required to be adopted by a judge, while dealing with an application for remanding a suspect or an accused person to police custody or judicial custody. There are several reasons for this including maintaining the dignity of an accused person, howsoever poor that person might be, the requirements of Article 21 of the Constitution and the fact that there is enormous overcrowding in prisons, leading to social and other problems as noticed by this Court in In Re­Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons

The Hon'ble Apex Court in Sanjay Chandra versus Central Bureau of Investigation (2012)1 Supreme Court Cases 49; held as under:­

" The object of bail is to secure the appearance of the accused person at his trial by reasonable amount of bail. The object of bail is neither punitive nor preventative. Deprivation of liberty must be considered a punishment, unless it can be required to ensure that an accused person will stand his trial when called upon. The Courts owe more than verbal respect to the principle that punishment begins after conviction, and that every man is deemed to be innocent until duly tried and duly found guilty. Detention in custody pending completion of trial could be a cause of great hardship. From time to time, necessity demands that some unconvicted persons should be held in custody pending trial to secure their attendance at the trial but in such cases, "necessity" is the operative test. In India , it would be quite contrary to the concept of personal liberty enshrined in the Constitution that any person should be punished in respect of any matter, upon which, he has not been convicted or that in any circumstances, he should be deprived of his liberty upon only the belief that he will tamper with the witnesses if left at liberty, save in the most extraordinary circumstances. Apart from the question of prevention being the object of refusal of bail, one must not lose sight of the fact that any imprisonment before conviction has a substantial punitive content and it would be improper for any court to refuse bail as a mark of disapproval of former conduct whether the accused has been convicted for it or not or to refuse bail to an unconvicted person for the propose of giving him a taste of imprisonment as a lesson."

Needless to say object of the bail is to secure the attendance of the accused in the trial and the proper test to be applied in the solution of the question whether bail should be granted or refused is whether it is probable that the party will appear to take his trial. Otherwise, bail is not to be withheld as a punishment. Otherwise also, normal rule is of bail and not jail. Court has to keep in mind nature of accusations, nature of evidence in support thereof, severity of the punishment which conviction will entail, character of the accused, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused involved in that crime.

The Hon'ble Apex Court in Prasanta Kumar Sarkar v. Ashis Chatterjee and Another (2010) 14 SCC 496, has laid down the following principles to be kept in mind, while deciding petition for bail:

(i) whether there is any prima facie or reasonable ground to believe that the accused had committed the offence;

(ii) nature and gravity of the accusation;

(iii) severity of the punishment in the event of conviction;

(iv) danger of the accused absconding or fleeing, if released on bail;

(v) character, behaviour, means, position and standing of the accused;

(vi) likelihood of the offence being repeated;

(vii) reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being influenced; and

(viii) danger, of course, of justice being thwarted by grant of bail.

Consequently, in view of the above, present bail petition is allowed. Petitioner is ordered to be enlarged on bail subject to his furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs. 1,00,000/­ (Rs. One lac) with one local surety in the like amount, to the satisfaction of the learned trial Court, with following conditions:

a. He shall make himself available for the purpose of interrogation, if so required and regularly attend the trial Court on each and every date of hearing and if prevented by any reason to do so, seek exemption from appearance by filing appropriate application;

b. He shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence nor hamper the investigation of the case in any manner whatsoever;

c. He shall not make any inducement, threat or promises to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade her from disclosing such facts to the Court or the Police Officer; and

d. He shall not leave the territory of India without the prior permission of the Court.

It is clarified that if the petitioner misuses his liberty or violates any of the conditions imposed upon him, the investigating agency shall be free to move this Court for cancellation of the bail.

Any observations made hereinabove shall not be construed to be a reflection on the merits of the case and shall remain confined to the disposal of this application alone.

The bail petition stands disposed of accordingly.