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Synopsis

While granting bail to a man in a kidnapping case, the Delhi High Court has observed that Imprisonment cannot be prolonged during trial for teaching the accused a lesson.

The bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan said no recovery was required to be made from the accused who was in custody for almost two years and nine months, and the trial, where the case would be tested, will take a long time to conclude.

"At the stage of the trial, imprisonment cannot be prolonged only for the purpose of teaching the accused a lesson. The case of the prosecution and the defense of the accused persons is yet to be tested at trial”, the court said in its order dated June 7.

The single-judge bench said that it is trite that the seriousness of an offence is not the only criteria for denial of bail. “A person who has not been convicted should only be kept in custody, if there is a possibility that he or she might abscond or tamper with evidence or threaten the witness. Merely because the offence is of a serious nature, cannot be the ground to curtail the personal liberty of an under trial for an indefinite period”, it added.

Justice Mahajan was hearing a bail plea of an accused namely Shah Alam charged under Sections 364A, 365, 342, 323, 506,102B, 34 IPC registered at New Ashok Nagar, police station.

The prosecution’s case is that the victim in her statement under Section 161 CrPC alleged that she was kidnapped by two accused persons for ransom and that she was also beaten by them. She also alleged that her mobile phone was taken and WhatsApp messages were sent demanding ransom. She was also threatened by the accused person and was wrongly confined. According to the complaint, Rs. 40 lakhs was demanded as ransom.

The counsel for the petitioner contended that the victim in her statement stated that she was beaten by accused persons whereas the MLC clearly recorded that “No fresh external injuries seen through naked eye examination”.

“The examination-in-chief of the victim has already been recorded. There are 23 witnesses cited by the prosecution and it will take long time to conclude the trial”, the court noted. It also noted that it is not the case of the prosecution that any injury was caused by the accused persons to the victim.

“At this stage, without going into the merits of the case, this court is of the opinion that regard being had to the above discussion, the petitioner has made out a case for the grant of bail”, the court said.

Accordingly, the court granted bail to the petitioner on furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 20,000 with one surety of like amount.

Case Title: Shah Alam v. State Govt of NCT of Delhi