No Bar For Accused To Seek Anticipatory Bail After Dismissal Of His FIR Quashing Plea: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has observed that the dismissal of an accused's writ petition seeking quashing of the FIR would not create a bar on the filing of an application for the grant of anticipatory bail A bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi noted that a writ petition for quashing the FIR and an application for anticipatory bail are altogether different remedies, which are to be decided on different sets of considerations and grounds. The bench was dealing with the plea moved by a 21-year-old petitioner, booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Dowry Protection Act in relation to an alleged dowry death case. The other accused in the matter are his father, mother and elder brother (the husband of the deceased woman). It was alleged that all the accused used to harass the victim over the demand of dowry, and on March 29, 2025, the applicant's mother allegedly strangled the victim. Before the HC, his counsel argued that the petitioner is pursuing a B.Tech course and his examinations are scheduled to commence shortly, and he has moved the HC since the Sessions Court has already rejected the prayer for grant of interim protection from arrest. On the other hand, the Additional Government Advocate as well as the counsel for the informant opposed the prayer forthe grant of anticipatory bail to the applicant. The informant's counsel specifically submitted that the co-accused (Shiv Prakash Shukla) and the applicant (Prashant Shukla) had earlier filed an FIR quashing plea, which was dismissed as withdrawn last month. The bench, however, clarified that dismissal of the writ petition seeking quashing of the FIR would not create a bar on the filing of an application for the grant of anticipatory bail, and the same has to be considered on its merits. Furthermore, having considered the facts and circumstances of the case and noting that the applicant is a young man aged 21 years who is pursuing a bachelor's course in engineering, the bench granted him anticipatory bail. “…although the FIR alleges that the applicant's mother (co-accused Rekha) strangulated the deceased with the help of other accused person, the postmortem examination report only mentions a ligature mark around the neck which was interrupted by 6cm; that the cause of death has been opined to be asphyxia due to ante mortem hanging; that no other injury has been found on any other part of the dead-body; that no specific allegation has been levelled against the applicant…”, the bench observed in its order. Case title - Prashant Shukla vs. State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Deptt. Lko. And Another 2025 LiveLaw (AB) 161 Case Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (AB) 161 Click Here To Read/DownloadOrder

No Bar For Accused To Seek Anticipatory Bail After Dismissal Of His FIR Quashing Plea: Allahabad High Court

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