IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Misc. No. M-12768 of 2009 Date of Decision :20.10.2009 Krishan Lal .....Petitioner Vs. State of Punjab .....Respondent BEFORE: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. V.K. Gupta, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. Shailesh Gupta, DAG Punjab. RAJAN GUPTA J.(ORAL) This is a petition seeking regular bail in a case registered against the petitioner under Sections 354/376 & 511 IPC at Police Station Dera Bassi vide FIR No. 171 dated 22.11.2008. Learned counsel for the petitioner at the outset has pointed out that State sought repeated adjournments in the instant case to enable it to examine the prosecution witness namely Pushpa Rani, mother of the girl alleged to have been molested. According to the counsel, the said Pushpa Rani has not been examined till date and petitioner has been in custody since 23.11.2008. Counsel submits that trial is likely to take some time to conclude, no useful purpose would be served by detaining the petitioner in custody during the pendency of the trial. Learned counsel for the State, on the other hand, has opposed the prayer for grant of bail to the petitioner on the ground that allegations against the petitioner are serious in nature. Learned counsel has, however, submits that prosecution has not been able to examine Pushpa Rani as a Crl. Misc. No. M-12768 of 2009 -2- prosecution witness till date. However, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case and taking into consideration the period of detention already suffered by him and the fact that trial may take some time to conclude, I deem it appropriate to grant regular bail to the petitioner. Accordingly, the petition is allowed and he is ordered to be enlarged on bail to the satisfaction of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mohali. 20.10.2009 (RAJAN GUPTA) Ajay JUDGE