The Court is not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner as it does not find any mitigating circumstances for the same.: High Court of Patna

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No. 142021 Arising Out of PS. Case No. 311 Year 2019 Thana BAIKUNTHPUR District Gopalganj Sonu Kumar aged about 19 years Male Son of Munna Sah Resident of Village Usri Bazar PS Baikunthpur District Gopalganj The State of Bihar ... Petitioner s ... Opposite Party s For the Petitioner s For the State For the Informant Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh Senior Advocate with Mr. Manish Kumar Singh Advocate Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhyay APP Mr. Rajeev Ranjan Advocate CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH ORAL JUDGMENT Date : 15 09 2021 The matter has been heard via video conferencing 2. Heard Mr. Rajesh Kumar Singh learned senior counsel along with Mr. Manish Kumar Singh learned counsel for the petitioner Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhyay learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State and Mr. Rajeev Ranjan learned counsel for the informant 3. The petitioner is in custody in connection with Baikunthpur PS Case No. 311 of 2019 dated 04.12.2019 instituted under Sections 326 34 of the Indian Penal Code and 8 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.142021 dt.15 09 2021 4. This is the second attempt for bail by the petitioner as earlier such prayer was rejected by judgment dated 07.07.2020 passed in Cr. Misc. No. 157020 5. Learned senior counsel for the petitioner submitted that though in the last order of rejection the Court had noticed the submissions of learned APP that the girl was examined on the same day by the doctor i.e. 04.12.2019 but from the medical report copy of which has been made Annexure 3 it transpires that the same has been signed by the doctor on 26.12.2019 in which it has been stated that the injury had been caused within two hours. Thus learned senior counsel submitted that the allegation being that the petitioner had thrown acid on the face of the victim on 04.12.2019 gets falsified and the doctor has found the injury to have been caused within two hours on 26.12.2019 i.e. more than three weeks after the 6. On 04.08.2021 in view of the aforesaid submissions of learned senior counsel for the petitioner the Court had asked learned APP to obtain the up to date legible photo copy of the entire police papers including the case diary of Baikunthpur PS Case No. 3119 as also copy of the injury reports of the Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.142021 dt.15 09 2021 victim from the Superintendent of Police Gopalganj. The same have been received by him 7. Learned senior counsel for the petitioner submitted that the injury report disclosing the date of the report as 26.12.2019 and indicating that the same was caused within two hours clearly demolishes the prosecution case. Further it was submitted that besides the said injury report no other document has been filed by the prosecution while submitting chargesheet against the petitioner and thus the veracity and correctness of the allegation is under serious doubt. Learned senior counsel submitted that co accused Raja Kumar has been granted bail by a co ordinate Bench by order dated 20.05.2021 passed in Cr. Misc No. 321. It was submitted that in the said case the Court had issued notice to the informant and the victim but they had not appeared before the Court 8. Learned APP from the case diary submitted that the Superintendent of Police Gopalganj has also sent a report obtained from the In charge of the Health Centre Baikunthpur in which it has been stated that the victim was brought to the Centre on 04.12.2019 itself and after making entry in the Register with regard to her injuries she was referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital where she went on an ambulance and it has further Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.142021 dt.15 09 2021 been stated that the doctor who had seen her namely Dr. Kumar Nishant had prepared a formal injury report on 26.12.2019. Thus it was submitted that the report details the injury which were found on the victim on 04.12.2019 itself but an extract and formal writing of the injury report was done on 26.12.2019 which does not mean that the injury suffered was on 26.12.2019 within two hours. Learned APP submitted that the victim girl and witnesses have been very specific and categorical that it was the petitioner along with co accused who had thrown acid on her and while trying to save herself the acid came in contact to her face leading to acid burn injuries 9. Learned counsel for the informant from the counter affidavit filed by him submitted that the discharge certificate of Patna Medical College and Hospital copy of which has been annexed to the counter affidavit shows that there was chemical burn over the face and that it would require plastic surgery as has been noted in the advice of discharge. Further learned counsel submitted that the reason for the informant and petitioner not appearing before the co ordinate Bench was that it was in the peak of the second wave of the COVID 19 pandemic due to which movement of the informant and the victim was curtailed Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.142021 dt.15 09 2021 10. Learned senior counsel for the petitioner submitted that such clarification which has now been forwarded to the Court by the In charge of the Health Centre Baikunthpur with regard to the injury report is of no evidentiary value as it cannot be placed before the Court since neither such report nor the report from the Patna Medical College and Hospital were submitted in support of the chargesheet filed by the police 11. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the case and submissions of learned counsel for the parties the Court would only observe that at the present stage the Court is only required to form an overall perception with regard to the merits of the matter especially in light of the allegations made in the FIR and the police investigation leading to submission of chargesheet against the petitioner. With such object the report which has come to the Superintendent of Police Gopalganj which includes the report of the Patna Medical College and Hospital as also the Health Centre Baikunthpur where the victim was initially taken after the incident as also the materials which have surfaced during investigation the Court is not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner as it does not find any mitigating circumstances for the same Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.142021 dt.15 09 2021 12. As far as grant of bail to co accused Raja Kumar is concerned the Court would only observe that the report with regard to entry made in the register of the Health Centre Baikunthpur as also that of the Patna Medical College and Hospital were not before the co ordinate Bench 13. Thus taking an overall view in the matter the petition stands dismissed. 14. However in view of the fact that chargesheet has been filed the Court below is directed to expedite the trial (Ahsanuddin Amanullah J

Summary: The petitioner was taken into custody under Sections 326 Indian Penal Code, “Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means including acid”, section 34 IPC, “Acts have done by several persons in furtherance of common intention”, section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, “Punishment for sexual assault.—Whoever, commits sexual assault, shall be punished with imprisonment and fine”,  and section 12 “Punishment for sexual harassment.—Whoever, commits sexual harassment upon a child shall be punished with imprisonment and shall also be liable to fine”.  This petition is in connection with Baikunthpur PS Case No. 311 of 2019 dated 04.12.2019. In the High Court of Judicature at Patna, this judgement was given by honourable Mr Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah on the 15th of September  2021 in the case of Sonu Kumar Versus the State of Bihar, [Criminal Miscellaneous No. 14200 of 2021] Mr Rajesh Kumar Singh represented as the advocate for the petitioner, Mr Jharkhandi Upadhyay, represented the state of Bihar as the additional Public Prosecutor and Mr Rajeev Ranjan represented as the advocate for the informant the proceedings of the court were held via video conference. The following are the facts of the case, the petitioner has been accused of throwing acid on the face of the victim on 04.12.2019. This is the second attempt for bail by the petitioner which was initially rejected by judgment dated 07.07.2020 passed in [Cr. Misc. No. 15706 of 2020].  The counsel representing the petitioner held that, according to the medical report annexure – 3, of the victim taken on 4th December 2019, it was transpired that the same has been signed by the doctor on the 26th December 2019 and it has been stated the within two hours of the injury the doctor aided to the victim. However the same has been falsified as clearly, the doctor aided only after three weeks to the incident, his signature as his evidence. The counsel further held that besides the injury report there is no other evidence filed by the prosecution and the veracity and correctness of the allegation is under serious doubt. The informant and victim failed to appear before the court when a notice was issued. The counsel further held that even the co-accused, in this case, has been granted bail by a co-ordinate Bench by order dated 20.05.2021 passed in [Cr. Misc. No. 38 of 2021].  The court ordered the additional public prosecutor to obtain an up-to-date legible photocopy of the entire police papers including the case diary of Baikunthpur PS Case No. 311 of 2019, as also a copy of the injury reports of the victim, from the Superintendent of Police, Gopalganj. The same has been received by him. The APP submitted that the Superintendent of Police, Gopalganj has also sent a report stating that the Health Centre, Baikunthpur stated that the victim was brought for medical aid on the 4th of December itself and made an entry in the register with her injuries and however the doctor performed a formal injury report on the 26th December 2019, therefore, it is true she was brought to aid within two hours of the incident. Further, the APP submitted that the victim girl and the witnesses clearly pointed out that the petitioner along with the co-accused was responsible was throwing acid on her and as the girl tried to save herself it came in contact with her face leading to acid burn injuries. The counsel representing the informant submitted the discharge certificate of the Patna Medical College and Hospital which shows that there were chemical burns over the face and plastic surgery was recommended by the doctors. Further, the counsel held that the reason the informant and victim failed to appear before court is that during the peak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic the movement of the informant and the victim was curtailed. The Honourable Court concluded that “the report which has come to the Superintendent of Police, Gopalganj, which includes the report of the Patna Medical College and Hospital as also the Health Centre, Baikunthpur, where the victim was initially taken after the incident as also the materials which have surfaced during investigation, the Court is not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner as it does not find any mitigating circumstances for the same. As far as the grant of bail to co-accused Raja Kumar is concerned, the Court would only observe the report with regard to entry made in the register of the Health Centre, Baikunthpur and the Patna Medical College and Hospital and not before the co-ordinate Bench. Therefore, the petition stands dismissed.”