Tara Chand vs State Of H.P

Anoop Chitkara, J

An under-trial prisoner, aged 32 years and is facing trial for possessing commercial quantity of charas, has come up before this Court under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), seeking interim bail, because of the marriage of his niece scheduled from 25.4.2021 to 27.4.2021.

The bail petitioner states in Para 8 of the petition that there is no criminal history.

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.

The petitioner has annexed the wedding card which is also attested by the Pradhan of the Gram Panchayat and bears the date of attestation as 17.4.2021. A perusal of this card reveals that wedding of Sweety Thakur is scheduled from 25. 4.2021 to 27.4.2021. In support of the petition, father of the petitioner has filed his affidavit.

Given the local customs in this geographical area, the role and requirement of a Mama in the wedding of a girl is sacrosanct and is of extreme importance. The petitioner claims himself to be the only Mama of the girl and, as such, there cannot be any substitute. Denying the presence of the petitioner would affect the happiness of a young girl who is getting married. Given the entirety of the facts and that the accused has no criminal history and he is not a flight risk, he makes out a case for bail. In view the facts and circumstances, this Court grants him interim bail till 4 p.m., of 3rd May 2021. This bail is subject to the conditions mentioned below with a direction to surrender before the concerned Jail on 3rd May, 2021 by 4.00 p.m. positively.

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 for Rs. Twenty-five thousand (INR 25,000/-), and shall furnish one surety of a similar amount, to the satisfaction of the Trial Court/ 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 Court/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 Shimla, 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.

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. Any Advocate for the petitioner can download this order along with the case status 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.

Copy Dasti.