IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. -M No. 31278 of 2008 (O&M) Date of decision : March 03, 2009 Kulwant Singh ....Petitioner versus State of Haryana ....Respondent Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Pritam Pal Present : Mr. AS Virk, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. Vikas Chaudhary, AAG Haryana Pritam Pal,J. (Oral) Petitioner has brought this petition under section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure for seeking regular bail in case FIR No. 80 dated 16.4.2003 under sections 302, 323, 324, 148, 149, 120-B IPC registered at Police Station Pehowa District Kurukshetra. Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that here in the instant case, the petitioner was also arrested in the year 2003 and thereafter in the year 2004 he was granted interim bail on account of ailment of his wife. However, he failed to appear before the trial court till May, 2008 when he again surrendered himself. All the co-accused in this case with similar allegations as that of the petitioner have already been acquitted by the trial court as the witnesses had not supported the prosecution case. In this regard, learned counsel for the petitioner made reference to the Criminal Misc. -M No. 31278 of 2008 (O&M) -2- judgment dated 2.6.2006, Annexure P/1. As of now, the petitioner in all has already undergone about 17 months of custody. On the previous two dates, the evidence of the prosecution could not be completed for the one reason or the other. Now the case is fixed for 7.4.2009 for recording the remaining evidence of the prosecution. Thus, it appears that the trial is still likely to take a long time. In the given facts and circumstances and without commenting on the merits of this case, the petitioner is ordered to be released on bail on his furnishing bail/surety bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court. Criminal Misc. is disposed of. ( Pritam Pal ) March 03, 2009 Judge 'dalbir'