'Minor Children In Abandoned Condition': Allahabad HC Grants Bail To Woman Accused Of Killing Husband In Conspiracy With Lover

The Allahabad High Court recently granted bail to a woman accused of killing her husband in collusion with her mother and alleged lover, with whom she is said to have had an illicit relationship. A bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan granted bail to the accused (Khushbu Devi) by extending the benefit of Section 480 BNSS, noting that her husband has died and she is in jail, and there is no one in the family to look after her minor children, who are in 'abandoned condition'.The Court also factored in that she has not been made an accused in the FIR, there is no eye witness account or last seen evidence and that her relation with her deceased husband were supposedly cordial. Accused-Devi, booked under 103(2), 238(b), 3(5), 61(2) BNS, has been accused of killing her husband in a collision with her alleged lover (Co-accused Sushil Yadav) and throwing the corpse into the well. As per the FIR, Devi was in an illicit affair with Yadav for some time before marrying the deceased (Prem Kumar). Devi and her mother planned the murder so that Devi could inherit her husband's property. Before the HC, the applicant's counsel submitted that the prosecution's story is false and misconceived and that she had been implicated only on the confessional statement of Co-accused (Yadav). It was further contended that there is no eye witness account or last seen evidence, and her relation with her deceased husband was cordial, as there was no prior complaint either from the side of the complainant or her family members about any ill-behaviour of the wife. Lastly, it was argued that there is no one in the family to look after her minor children as those children are in an abandoned condition; therefore, the bail application was pressed mainly on the sympathetic consideration. Against the backdrop of these submissions, the Court granted bail to the accused mainly because her children are in an abandoned condition after the death of her husband. “…applicant has no previous criminal history of any kind whatsoever, charge-sheet has been filed in this case and the undertaking given on behalf of the applicant that she shall not misuse the liberty of bail and shall cooperate in the trial proceedings, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail in this case,” the bench observed in its order. Case title - Khushbu Devi vs. State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. (Home Deptt) U.P. Lko 2025 LiveLaw (AB) 142 Case citation: 2025 LiveLaw (AB) 142 Click Here To Read/Download Order

'Minor Children In Abandoned Condition': Allahabad HC Grants Bail To Woman Accused Of Killing Husband In Conspiracy With Lover

Sparsh Upadhyay

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