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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court has granted bail to an individual facing prosecution in a murder case. The court took note of the possibility of a suicide pact between the accused and a woman, emphasizing their consensual romantic relationship.

The bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan found merit in the defense counsel's submission, asserting that a suicide pact existed between the accused and the woman.

The defence counsel argued that after the accused's family compelled him to marry someone else, the woman tragically took her own life. Additionally, when the accused attempted suicide, his country-made pistol malfunctioned, failing to discharge.

“While considering the petitioner’s application for bail, the possibility of the petitioner and the deceased being involved in a consensual romantic relationship and the deceased partaking in a suicide pact with the petitioner and shooting herself, cannot be discounted,” said the court.

Granting bail, the court directed the accused not to leave Delhi-NCR and instructed against influencing any person connected to the case.

The court emphasized that the testimonies of prosecution witnesses and other evidence, considered for the limited purpose of the bail application, favored the accused. "The forensic report revealed that, although the country-made pistol was operational, it failed to discharge the cartridge recovered from the accused after numerous attempts", it said.

The court acknowledged the substance in the defense's submission, particularly highlighting an audio recording transcript suggesting a suicide pact between the petitioner and the victim.

“The deceased had also expressed her desire to not continue her life without the company of the petitioner; similarly, the petitioner also expressed his fondness for the deceased. This contradicts the prosecution’s version that when the deceased refused to leave the petitioner, he killed her,” the court noted.

According to the prosecution's case, in May 2016, the police received information from the accused about his suicidal intentions, claiming the woman accompanying him had shot herself. Subsequently, the accused was found in a car's driver's seat, with the victim dead in the passenger’s seat.

The investigation revealed a longstanding relationship between the victim and the accused, both married to other individuals. The prosecution alleged that the accused killed her after she declined to end their relationship.

Rejecting the prosecution’s theory regarding a monetary dispute, the court relied on a recorded conversation where the accused and his mother reportedly agreed to repay the borrowed sum.

Highlighting the slow progress of the trial, the court observed that out of 64 witnesses, only 24 had been examined in the last seven years.

Given the circumstances, the court deemed it unjust to keep the accused in custody indefinitely, stating, “It would indeed be a travesty of justice to keep the petitioner in jail for an indefinite period for an offence which may ultimately be found not to have been committed by him, especially when there is material on record which has the prospect of probabilizing the defence of the petitioner.” The court, therefore, allowed the bail plea.

Case Title: Naveen Uppar @ Sunny v. State of NCT of Delhi