Rishav @ Subhas vs State Of H.P

Anoop Chitkara, J

An under-trial prisoner, aged 23 years and is facing trial for committing gang rape with a minor child, has come up before this Court under Section

439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), seeking interim bail, because of death of his mother, on 12.1.2021.

The bail petition is silent about criminal history, however, Mr. Anirudh Sharma, Ld. Counsel for the bail petitioner states on instructions that the

petitioner has no criminal past relating to the offences prescribing sentence of seven years and more, or when on conviction, the sentence imposed

was more than three years.

Mr. Anirudh Sharma, learned for the petitioner has argued that the petitioner is seeking bail for a limited period because the mother of petitioner has

died on 12.1.2021. To support this fact he has annexed the certificate of Gram Panchayat, Dharampur. The petitioner had earlier approached the

Sessions Court for grant of interim bail on the same grounds, but his request was rejected.

Mr. Bhupinder Thakur, learned Deputy 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 for a limited period.

Given the fact that the petitioner, who is just 23 years of age and has lost his mother, has to interact with his family members to come out of trauma,

this Court grants him interim bail for a period of two weeks, 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 6th Feb 2021 at 4.00 p.m. latest, and

that in case he furnish bail bonds earlier then immediately on the expiry of fourteen days.

In Manish Lal Shrivastava v State of Himachal Pradesh, CrMPM No. 1734 of 2020, after analysing judicial precedents, this Court observed that

any Court granting bail with sureties should give a choice to the accused to either furnish surety bonds or give a fixed deposit, with a further option to

switch over to another.

The petitioner shall be released on bail in the FIR mentioned above, subject to his furnishing a personal bond of for surrendering in jail, for Rs.

Twenty-five thousand (INR 25,000/-), and shall furnish two sureties of a similar amount, 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. Before accepting the sureties, the

concerned Magistrate must satisfy that in case the accused fails to appear in Court, then such sureties are capable to produce the accused before the

Court, keeping in mind the Jurisprudence behind the sureties, which is to secure the presence of the accused.

In the alternative, the petitioner may furnish aforesaid personal bond and fixed deposit(s) for Rs. Twenty-five thousand only (INR 25,000/-), made

in favour of ""Chief Judicial Magistrate, District Kangra, H.P.,

a) Such Fixed deposits may be made from any of the banks where the stake of the State is more than 50%, or any of the stable private banks, e.g.,

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, etc., with the clause of automatic renewal of principal, and liberty of the interest reverting to the

linked account.

b) Such a fixed deposit need not necessarily be made from the account of the petitioner and need not be a single fixed deposit.

c) If such a fixed deposit is made in physical form, i.e., on paper, then the original receipt shall be handed over to the concerned Court.

d) If made online, then its printout, attested by any Advocate, and if possible, countersigned by the accused, shall be filed, and the depositor shall get

the online liquidation disabled.

e) The petitioner or his Advocate shall inform at the earliest to the concerned branch of the bank, that it has been tendered as surety. Such information

be sent either by e-mail or by post/courier, about the fixed deposit, whether made on paper or in any other mode, along with its number as well as FIR

number.

f) After that, the petitioner shall hand over such proof along with endorsement to the concerned Court.

g) It shall be total discretion of the petitioner to choose between surety bonds and fixed deposits. It shall also be open for the petitioner to apply for

substitution of fixed deposit with surety bonds and vice-versa.

h) Subject to the proceedings under S. 446 CrPC, if any, the entire amount of fixed deposit along with interest credited, if any, shall be

endorsed/returned to the depositor(s). Such Court shall have a lien over the deposits up to the expiry of the period mentioned under S. 437-A CrPC,

1973, or until discharged by substitution as the case may be.

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.

The petitioner shall neither stare, stalk, make any gestures, remarks, call, contact, message the victim, either physically, or through phone call or

any other social media, nor roam around the victim's home.

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 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.