IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Cr.Misc. No.34312 of 2009 PUSHPAK MAHTO son of Bilas Mahto, resident of village Sakrauli, P.S. Cheria Bariarpur, District Begusarai… …Petitioner Versus THE STATE OF BIHAR… ..OPPOSITE PARTY For the Petitioner: Mr. Shakil Ahmad Khan, Sr.Adv. Mr. Deepak Kumar and Ms. Nivedita Verma, Advocates For the State: Mr. R.P.S. Singh, A.P.P. ----------- 4 16.12.2009 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the State. The petitioner seeks bail in a case registered under sections 302/201/34/120B of the Indian Penal Code. As per the case set up in the first information report, when the deceased Manoj Choudhary did not return to his home, then his brother, the informant, made a search and thereafter lodged a Sanha in this regard without naming anybody. However, on 25.01.2009 at about 2.00 PM a staff of the wine shop informed the informant that on 23.01.2009 the deceased had come there and had taken wine. It has also been stated that about a week back, there had been a scuffle between the deceased and this petitioner. It has been further stated in 2 the first information report that two of the villagers of the informant, namely, Shyam Nandan Choudhary and Kanhaaiya Choudhary, had informed him that seven persons including this petitioner had encircled the deceased and there was a scuffle going on between them and they were also talking between themselves that they should kill the deceased. The first information report further discloses that the deceased was in habit of lending money and used to remind the persons, who had taken money on interest and for the return of the money so lended. On 26.01.2009 in the morning at about 8.00 AM the dead body of the deceased was recovered from the bed of a river, which was identified by the informant and others on the basis of the hair grown on the chest and hydrocele. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that except the suspicion and circumstance that the petitioner and others were seen with the deceased on the basis of the statement of two co-villagers, there is no direct evidence to connect the petitioner with the commission of this crime. It is further submitted that admittedly, the deceased was in the habit of drinking wine and lending 3 money to many persons, due to which he might have developed enmity with many persons. During the course of investigation nothing has come to suggest that anybody had seen this petitioner or anybody killing the deceased except the fact that seven persons were last seen with the deceased. It is also submitted that even though the aforesaid co-villagers had seen the scuffle or quarrel in between the petitioner and the deceased, they neither stopped them nor had they informed regarding the same to anybody including the family members of the deceased. Further submission is that from the first information report and the materials available on record, it does not transpire as to who had actually killed the deceased and in what manner. The aforesaid villagers have also not stated that the petitioner and others were fully armed with weapons at the time when they had seen them encircling the deceased. The dead body was not recovered from that place, rather it was recovered next day from the bed of river. Learned counsel for the State submitted that the petitioner is named in the first information report, however, on the basis of the statement of two co-villagers 4 of the informant, who had stated that the petitioner had encircled the deceased and scuffle was going on between them and thus, was last seen with the deceased along with other six persons. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, I direct the abovenamed petitioner, Pushpak Mahto, to be released on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 10,000/-(ten thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Begusarai in Cheria Bariarpur Police Station Case No. 14 of 2009 with further condition that one of the bailors must be the father of the petitioner. SC ( Dr. Ravi Ranjan, J.)