Gopal Sharma and Ors v. State of Punjab

ANOOP CHITKARA, J. FIR No. Dated Police Sta1on Sec1ons 116 11.12.2024 Dhariwal, District 115, 118(1), 303(2), 190, 191(3) of BNS, Gurdaspur 2023 (Secton 115 added and 315 deleted vide rapat No.13 dated 12.12.2024)

¶1The pettoners apprehending arrest in the FIR captoned above have come up before this Court under Secton 482 of Bharatya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, [BNSS], seeking antcipatory bail.

¶2In paragraph 12 of the bail petton, the accused declare that they have no criminal antecedents.

¶3The facts of the case are being taken from the translated copy of FIR annexed with the bail petton as Annexure P-1, which reads as follows: "Statement of Pankaj Kumar son of Surinder Kumar resident of Krishna Bazaar, Dhariwal aged 36 years, stated that I am a resident of the above said address and work as a vegetable vendor, on 07.12.2024 (me at about 3.15 PM, I was se+ng up my cart shop and was praying that Sanjeev Kumar has come to me to take money of finance. There Rajesh Kumar son of Vijay Kumar, resident of Gandhi ground, Rohit Kumar son of Mulkh Raj, resident of Angwali street had also come. Then smoke of the Dhoopwent to the shop of Gopal Sharma resident of opal Nagar, who is running shop of footwear, then turning aggressive Gopal Sharma son of Jagdish Raj Sharma armed with datar, and his father, Jagdish Raj, armed with iron rod, Mohan Lal, son Jagdish, armed with Datar, Gautam of son of Gopal Sharma, armed with Sword, all the residents of Gopal Nagar, Dhariwal, along with them, Bedi residents, Kot Satnakh Rai, armed with order/judgment. 1 rod came to my cart, and Gopal Sharma said as soon as he came, that you should be taught lesson for enlightening the Dhoop. As soon as I came, he a7acked me with a hand-held Datar, I was put my le9 arm ahead for saving myself which landed on my le9 elbow and I fell down and as is fell down Mohan Lal son of Jagdish Raj, started hi+ng on my back. Then for releasing me Sanjeev son of Tarsem, Rajesh son of Vijay and Rohit Kumar son of Mulkraj also 3/4 unknown persons caused a lot of injuries. Then Mohan Lal took abovemen(oned Rs.6550 from Sanjeev abovemen(oned and also broke his phone and then we shouted Mar Di7a Mar Di7a, then abovemen(oned accused escaped from the spot with their respec(ve weapons. Then due to our injuries, Dinesh Mahajan, son of Naresh Kumar, a resident of Dhariwal, made arrangement of vehicle and took us the civil hospital Dahriwal, where Doctor Sahib conducted our MLR and a9er giving first Aid and further referred to the Civil Hospital Gurdaspur, where we are under treatment, legal ac(on be taken."

¶4The pettoners' counsel prays for bail by imposing any stringent conditons and contends that further pre-trial incarceraton would cause an irreversible injustce to the pettoners and their family.

¶5The State's counsel opposes bail and refers to the status report.

¶6It would be appropriate to refer to the following portons of the status report, which read as follows: "10. Role of the Pe##oners:- That it is humbly submi7ed that the pe((oners and others co-accused, caused injuries with sharp edge weapons upon complainant/Pankaj Kumar and his companions namely Sanjiv, Rohit & Rajesh Kumar who were standing with him. Hence the offence under sec(on 118(2) BNS is made out against the pe((oners.

¶11Evidence against the pe##oners:- It is humbly submi7ed that sufficient evidence are there against the pe((oners which include statement of the complainant and statements of injured persons as per record." REASONING:

¶7Pre-trial incarceraton should not be a replica of post-convicton sentencing. The evidence might be prima facie sufficient to launch prosecuton or to frame charges, but order/judgment. 2 this Court is not considering the evidence at that stage but is analyzing it for the stage of antcipatory bail. An analysis of the above does not justfy custodial interrogaton or pre-trial incarceraton.

¶8Given the above, the penal provisions invoked coupled with the primafacie analysis of the nature of allegatons and the other factors peculiar to this case, there would be no justfiability for custodial interrogaton or the pre-trial incarceraton at this stage. Without commentng on the case's merits, in the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, and for the reasons mentoned above, the pettoners make a case for bail.

¶9Given above, provided the pettoners are not required in any other case, the pettoners shall be released on antcipatory bail in the FIR captoned above subject to furnishing bonds to the satsfacton of the Arrestng Officer, and if the maGer is before a Court, then the concerned Court and due to unavailability before any nearest Ilaqa Magistrate/duty Magistrate. Before acceptng the surety, the concerned Officer/Court must be satsfied that if the accused fails to appear, such surety can produce the accused.

¶10While furnishing a personal bond, the pettoners shall menton the following personal identficaton details:

¶1AADHAR number

¶2Passport number (If available) and when the aGestng officer/court considers it appropriate or considers the accused a flight risk.

¶3Mobile number (If available)

¶4E-Mail id (If available)

¶11This order is subject to the pettoners' complying with the following terms.

¶12The pe((oners are directed to join the inves(ga(on within seven days of uploading this order on the official webpage of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and as and when called by the Inves(gator. The pettoners shall be in deemed custody for Secton 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872/ Secton 23 of BSA, 2023. The pettoners shall join the investgaton as and when called by the Investgatng Officer or any Superior Officer and shall cooperate with the investgaton at all further stages as required. In the event of failure to do so, the prosecuton will be open to seeking cancellaton of the bail. During the investgaton, the pettoners shall not be subjected to third-degree, indecent language, inhuman treatment, etc.

¶13Given the background of allegatons against the pettoners, it becomes paramount to protect the members of society, and incapacitatng the accused would be one of the primary optons untl the filing of the closure report or discharge, or acquiGal.JYOTI order/judgment. 3 Consequently, it would be appropriate to restrict the possession of firearms. [This restricton is being imposed based on the preponderance of the evidence of probability and not of evidence of certainty, i.e., beyond a reasonable doubt; and as such, it is not to be construed as an intermediate sancton]. Given the nature of the allegatons and the other circumstances peculiar to this case, the pettoner shall surrender all weapons, firearms, and ammuniton, if any, along with the arms license to the concerned authority within fiMeen days and inform the Investgator of the compliance. However, subject to the Indian Arms Act, 1959, the pettoner shall be enttled to renew and reclaim them in case of acquiGal in this case, provided otherwise permissible under the concerned rules. Restrictng firearms would instll confidence in the victm(s), their families, and society; it would also restrain the accused from influencing the witnesses and repeatng the offense.

¶14Given the nature of the allegatons and the other circumstances peculiar to this case, the pettoners shall not enter the property, workplace, and residence of the victm untl the statements of all non-official and informal witnesses in the trial are recorded. This Court is imposing this conditon to rule out any aGempt by the accused to incapacitate, influence, or cause any discomfort to the victm. Reference be made to Vikram Singh v Central Bureau of Investgaton, 2018 All SCR (Crl.) 458); and Aparna BhaG v. The State of Madhya Pradesh, 2021:INSC:192, 2021 SCC Online SC 230.

¶15The pettoners shall abide by all statutory bond conditons and appear before the concerned Court(s) on all dates. The pettoners shall not tamper with the evidence, influence, browbeat, pressurize, induce, threaten, or promise, directly or indirectly, any witnesses, Police officials, or any other person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case or dissuade them from disclosing such facts to the Police or the Court.

¶16In case the Investgator/Officer-In-Charge of the concerned Police Staton arraigns another secton of any penal offense in this FIR, and if the new secton prescribes a maximum sentence that is not greater than the sectons mentoned above, then this bail order shall be deemed to have also been passed for the newly added secton(s). However, suppose the newly inserted sectons prescribe a sentence exceeding the maximum sentence prescribed in the sectons mentoned above; then, in that case, the Investgator/Officer-In-Charge shall give the pettoners notce of a minimum of seven days, providing an opportunity to avail the remedies available in law.

¶17This bail is conditonal, and the foundatonal conditon is that if the pettoners indulge in any non-bailable offense, the State may file an applicaton for cancellaton of order/judgment. 4 this bail before the Sessions Court, which shall be at liberty to cancel this bail.

¶18The concerned trial court is authorized to delete, modify, or relax any of the above conditons and shall be competent to do so in accordance with the law.

¶19Any observaton made hereinabove is neither an expression of opinion on the case's merits nor shall the trial Court advert to these comments.

¶20A certfied copy of this order would not be needed for furnishing bonds, and any Advocate for the Pettoner can download this order along with case status from the official web page of this Court and aGest it to be a true copy. If the aGestng officer wants to verify its authentcity, such an officer can also verify its authentcity and may download and use the downloaded copy for aGestng bonds.

¶21Pe11on allowed in terms mentoned above. All pending applicatons, if any, stand disposed of. (ANOOP CHITKARA) JUDGE

28.02.2025 Jyot-II Whether reportable: No. order/judgment. 5

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Reserved on: 14.02.2025 Pronounced on: 28.02.2025 Gopal Sharma and others ...Pettoners Versus State of Punjab …Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA Present: Mr. Gurmej Singh Bhinder, Advocate for Mr. S.K. Choudhary, Advocate for the pettoners. Mr. Jasjit Singh, DAG, Punjab. ****