Nitin Verma vs State Of Himachal Pradesh

Anoop Chitkara, J

This petition coming on for orders this day, the Court passed the following:

FIR No.

Dated

Police Station

Sections

08/2016

25.1.2016

Theog, District Shimla

302, 392, 201 & 120-B IPC.

An under-trial prisoner, who is facing trial for committing murder, has come up before this Court under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), seeking interim bail, to get himself medically checked up.

In Para 16 of the bail application, the petitioner declares having no criminal history.

Paragraphs 8 & 9 of the petition read as follows:

"8. That the petitioner seems to be going in the state of depression while in judicial custody. It may not be out of place to submit that for the last about one year and half year, the prosecution despite given various opportunities have failed to examine remaining prosecution witnesses which is having serious impact on the mental state of the petitioner and as and when, the parents have met him, they found that he is going into serious state of depression, which is going to seriously affect his health. The parents had told him that he should get himself medically examined but he always remained silent and even had stopped responding to their requests. The father and mother of the petitioner met him in jail in the last week and found that he has gone very weak and was not responding to their normal talks with him. It may not be out of place to mention here that the father of the petitioner is a chronic patient of Arthritis and unable to do his day to day work without the active help and support of his wife. The father of the petitioner owns land in District Shimla and is also unable to look after his crops. There is none in the family to look after the crop as the father of the petitioner is suffering from Arthritis and the other son is too young to take care of the fields. In these circumstances, the petitioner is admitted to bail or in alternative interim bail for three months may be granted to him so that the petitioner is counseled and medically checked.

That on the request of father of the petitioner to the jail authorities, the petitioner was taken to Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla on 27.8.2021 and was examined in the department of psychiatry. After examination, the apprehensions of the parents of petitioner that he is going in depression were found to be correct as he was found to be under acute depression which has seriously affected the health of petitioner. The petitioner has been prescribed anti-depression medicine. The copy of the prescription slip is annexed as P-1. The parents of the petitioner are concerned and worried about the mental state of petitioner and intends to get the petitioner examined in a specialized institution so that the petitioner can come out of the existing depression."

Mr. Nand Lal Thakur, learned Additional Advocate General submits that in case this Court grants interim bail to the petitioner then the Court must specify the date on which the petitioner would surrender.

In the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, the petitioner makes out a case for release on bail.

Given the contention that the petitioner is seriously ill and furthermore that he is apparently not of flight risk, this Court grants him interim bail for three months, subject to the conditions mentioned below with outer limit that he must furnish bail bonds well in time and if he fails to furnish the bail bonds in time, still he must surrender before the concerned Jail by 31st December 2021 at 11.00 a.m. latest and that in case he furnishes bail bonds earlier then immediately on the expiry of three months. During the period of interim bail, the petitioner shall keep the phone location/GPS always on the "ON" mode.

The petitioner shall be released on bail in the FIR mentioned above, subject to his furnishing a personal bond for surrendering in jail, for Rs. Twenty-five thousand (INR 25,000/-), to the satisfaction of the Judicial Magistrate having the jurisdiction over the Police Station conducting the investigation, and in case of non-availability, any Ilaqa Magistrate.

This bail is also subject to the condition that at the time of surrender, the petitioner shall hand over photocopy of the entire medical treatment, which he has taken. In case he fails to get himself medically checked up, during the period of interim bail, he shall not be entitled to bail on this ground, in future.

The attesting officer shall, on the reverse page of personal bonds, mention the permanent address of the petitioner along with the phone number(s), WhatsApp number (if any), e-mail (if any), and details of personal bank account(s) (if available).

The petitioner shall not influence, browbeat, pressurize, make any inducement, threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to the witnesses, the Police officials, or any other person acquainted with the facts of the case, to dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Police, or the Court, or to tamper with the evidence.

Any Advocate for the petitioner and the Officer in whose presence the petitioner puts signatures on personal bonds shall explain all conditions of this bail order, in vernacular and if not feasible, in Hindi.

There would be no need for a certified copy of this order for furnishing bonds, and any Advocate for the Petitioner can download this order from the official web page of this Court and attest it to be a true copy. In case the attesting officer or the Court wants to verify the authenticity, such an officer can also verify its authenticity and may download and use the downloaded copy for attesting bonds.

The petition stands allowed in the terms mentioned above.