Read Time: 06 minutes

Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has recently granted bail to a mother who was booked for killing her 14-year-old child with her lover.

A single-judge bench of the high court comprising Justice Manish Pitale was hearing a bail application filed by Mamta Birendra Yadav who was booked under Sections 301 and 302 of IPC.

One of the accused persons was a juvenile, who was released and the co-accused person was released by a single judge bench of the high court in September 2022. The co-accused was released on the grounds of the period of incarceration suffered by the said co-accused person and in the face of the fact that there was no progress in the trial.

Yadav contended that the present case is a case of circumstantial evidence and she is a woman, who has suffered incarceration for almost 7 years.

She added that the co-accused having been granted bail on 19th September 2022 itself on the ground of long incarceration, also deserves to be granted relief, for the reason that even after the said order was passed by this court in favour of the co-accused, there is no progress in the trial and not a single witness has been examined.

The prosecution argued that Yadav is alleged to have caused the murder of her 14-month-old child in the backdrop of an extramarital affair with the co-accused person.

It was submitted that the husband of Yadav is the informant in the present case and there is enough material on record to indicate that Yadav not only caused the death of the minor child by strangulation but also tried to destroy the evidence by attempting to bury the body of the minor.

The bench while granting bail to Yadav said “It is to be noted that in the order passed by this Court granting relief to co-accused (Rakesh Mahesh Patel) on 19th September 2022, this Court had taken note of the fact that charge had been framed on 16th January 2019 itself and that there was no progress in the trial. More than 2 years have gone by and yet, the stage of the trial is the same and not a single witness has been examined by the prosecution,” the order states.

The high court also noted that the applicant, who is a woman, has already suffered incarceration for 6 years and 10 months i.e. almost 7 years. The bench added that the list of witnesses shows that the prosecution intends to examine 36 witnesses indicating that there is hardly any material to indicate that the trial would commence forthwith and there is a remote possibility of the trial being completed within a reasonable period.

Case title: Mamta Birendra Yadav vs State of Maharashtra