IF Bail Was Given Without Assigning Any Reason Bail Order Not Sustainable: Allahabad HC

Recently, the Allahabad High Court ruled that if bail is granted to a similarly situated defendant for no apparent reason, then bail should not be granted based solely on the principle of equality.

The Bench of Justice Sameer Jain made these remarks in a murder case involving Manish's bail application. Manish and his parents are accused of dousing a woman in kerosene and then setting her on fire.

According to the victim's dying declaration, the accused and his family dragged the victim into their home on the day of the incident and then set her on fire.

On the other hand, the defence attorney for the defendant argued that the allegations stated in the FIR and the dying declaration are false, and that during the investigation it was determined that the allegations against the defendant and his family are false, and a final report was submitted.

In addition, it was asserted that under the SSP's direction, additional investigations were conducted and a charge sheet was filed against the accused.

In addition, it was argued that the dying declaration as a tutored one and the fact that the other co-accused have been granted bail by the Coordinate Bench are grounds for granting bail in this case.

After hearing the arguments, the court noted that there are specific allegations against the accused in the dying declaration, and it was also noted that the co-accused (one Mintu @ Amit) was granted bail by the coordinate Bench of the Court solely on the basis of the arguments advanced by his counsel, and the same was true for the other accused as well.

In this case, the court ruled that parity cannot be the sole criterion for granting bail and determining whether bail should be granted to other co-defendants.

The court also noted that the deceased made specific allegations against the applicant and the other defendants.

Accordingly, the court denied bail to the defendant and opined that in this instance, bail cannot be granted on the basis of equality.

D.D: 22 JUNE 2022

Manish Versus State of U.P.