Can’t Delve Into Quality Or Quantity Of Evidence At The Stage Of Adjudicating A Bail Application: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court recently observed that at the stage of adjudicating a bail application, it cannot delve into the quality or quantity of evidence and it can only consider whether the delinquent appears to have committed the crime and whether he is entitled to bail or not. With this, the bench of Justice Krishan Pahal denied bail to a man who has been accused of killing his wife pursuant to setting her on fire. It was argued by the defence counsel that many prosecution witnesses had not supported the case of the prosecution. Significantly, in its order, the Court also gave weightage to the dying declaration recorded by the ASI as it did not find a lacuna in the recording of the dying declaration by a police officer. In fact, in this regard, the Court referred to a Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Betal Singh vs. State of MP (1996) SCC (Cri) 624, wherein it was categorically held that in a case of Bride burning, the Dying declaration recorded by a police officer, can be acted upon if the same is found to be true, coherent, consistent, and free from any effort to prompt the deceased to make such a statement. “From the perusal of both the statements aka ‘dying declarations’ it transpires that the contents are almost the same although the ASI has recorded it in vernacular Hindi and the treating doctors have done so in English. There is nothing on record to suggest that the police or the treating doctors had any animosity with the applicant. The investigating officer has fairly exonerated the accused who were although named in FIR, but their names were not mentioned in the statements of the deceased person that tantamount to dying declaration. A presumption of fair action at the part of police and the treating doctors must arise here,” the Court observed as it denied bail to the applicant-accused. The case in briefEssentially, in the instant case, the accused (husband of the deceased) has been accused of killing his own wife pursuant to subjecting her to cruelty on demands of dowry. Seeking bail in the case, the counsel for the accused argued that the dying declaration in the instant case was recorded by ASI which indicated that the applicant had sprinkled some liquid on the deceased person and set her afire. Objecting to the recording of the dying declaration by a police officer, it was further submitted that the said dying declaration is not admissible under the Indian Evidence Act as it has not been recorded as per law. Several other submissions have been made on behalf of the applicant to demonstrate the falsity of the allegations made against him. On the other hand, the state’s counsel argued that it has nowhere been stated by the prosecution that the statement recorded by the ASI is a dying declaration and that merely it has been stated that the said statement before ASI and even before 2 treating doctors, tantamount to dying declaration as they have been duly recorded by them during the course of their official duty. It was also submitted that the said statements recorded by ASI at the Hospital had been taken in Hindi and that by the doctor, the same was recorded in English and that there are no material inconsistencies in the said dying declarations. Against this backdrop, after hearing the counsel for the parties, going through the evidence on record, and also taking into consideration the fact that a young lady had been set to fire by the applicant within the precincts of the place they both used to live, the Court did not find it a fit case for grant of bail to the applicant. However, looking at the period of detention of the applicant, it was directed that the case pending before the trial court be decided expeditiously, preferably within a period of one year. Appearances Counsel for Applicant: Mohd. Umar Iqbal Khan, Syed Ali Imam, Laxmi Shankar Counsel for Opposite Party: Vibhav Anand Singh, A.G.A Case title - Anees vs. State of U.P [CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 23624 of 2020] Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 67 Click Here To Read/Download Order

Can’t Delve Into Quality Or Quantity Of Evidence At The Stage Of Adjudicating A Bail Application: Allahabad High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

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