Alleged of Killing the deceased the Court denied bail to the petitioners, Missing Reports by the Petitioners haven’t been launched even after the deceased going missing makes the contentions stronger: High Court Of Patna

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.14421 Arising Out of PS. Case No. 683 Year 2019 Thana BANKA District Banka Bhawani Devi aged about 55 years wife of Anirudh Sah Chandan Shah @ Chandan Kumar Sahaged about 35 years Rohit Kumar @ Rohit Sahaged about 28 years both sons of Anirudh All resident of Village Parghari P.S. Dhoriya Dist. Banka ... Petitioner s The State of Bihar For the Petitioner s For the State Mr. Md. Najmul Hodda Advocate Ms Pushpa Sinha APP CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH ... Opposite Party s Date : 05 08 2021 ORAL JUDGMENT The matter has been heard via video conferencing. 2. The case has been taken up out of turn on the basis of motion slip filed by learned counsel for the petitioners on 30.07.2021 which was allowed. 3. Heard Mr. Md. Najmul Hodda learned counsel for the petitioners and Ms. Pushpa Sinha learned Additional Public Prosecutorfor the State 4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioner no. 3 has been arrested and he may be permitted to withdraw the petition on his behalf. In view thereof the petition on behalf of petitioner no. 3 Rohit Kumar @ Rohit Sah stands Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.14421 dt.05 08 2021 disposed of as withdrawn and is restricted to petitioners no. 1 and 2 namely Bhawani Devi and Chandan Sah @ Chandan 5. The petitioners apprehend arrest in connection with BankaPS Case No. 6819 dated 23.09.2019 instituted under Sections 304 B 34 of the Indian Penal Code 6. The petitioner no. 1 is the mother in law and petitioners no. 2 and 3 are the brothers of the husband of the deceased. The allegation against them is of being party to killing her as the body was found in a pond. 7. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that they are separate in mess and residence and have no connection with any foul play if at all it has taken place. It was submitted that the marriage took place six years prior to the incident and there are two minor children also born out of the wedlock and thus there was no occasion to commit such crime. Further it was submitted that in the past there has been no complaint before any authority though it has been mentioned in the FIR that there was demand for dowry and the victim was tortured but without any supporting material. Learned counsel submitted that the pond was of the temple in the village and the deceased may have slipped and fallen in the pond leading to her death by Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.14421 dt.05 08 2021 drowning but there was no foul play much less by the petitioners. It was submitted that the husband of the deceased is in custody since 23.09.2019. It was further submitted that the petitioners have no other criminal antecedent. 8. Learned APP submitted that the circumstances indicate the involvement of the petitioners and it appears that a crime was committed for the reason that they were family members of the deceased living in the same house and if the deceased had gone somewhere and had not returned it was their duty to look for her or to intimate the police that she was missing and the informant who lives somewhere else was informed at 11.00 AM and thereafter when he came the body was still lying in the pond which indicates that the petitioners were either totally not bothered or because of their role had not intimated any authority. It was submitted that the natural conduct of a person would be that if any person of the household is missing they would look for the person and would also inform the authorities but in the present case the victim having been out of the house for a long period and the body found in the village pond near the temple it cannot be accepted they were unaware of such development for the reason that the informant came to know at 11.00 AM and then it must have Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.14421 dt.05 08 2021 been taken some time for him to reach the village and when he came the body was still lying in the pond which clearly shows that the family of the husband of the deceased have much to explain as she was living in the matrimonial home. 9. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the case and submissions of learned counsel for the parties the Court finds substance in the contention of learned APP. The conduct of the petitioners as has been submitted by learned APP does not inspire confidence with regard to their innocence 10. For reasons aforesaid the Court is not inclined to grant pre arrest bail to the petitioners 11. Accordingly the petition stands dismissed Ahsanuddin Amanullah J J. Alam 

Summary:  The Petitioners alleged of Dowry Demand, Torture, and Killing of the deceased were not granted bail by the Court. They didn’t try finding the deceased for a long time after she went missing. The Hon’ble High Court of Patna before Justice Mr. Ahsanuddin Amanullah in the matter Bhawani Devi and others v. The State of Bihar[Criminal Miscellaneous No.1440 of 2021].  The facts of the case were that Petitioner no. 3 had been arrested and he might be permitted to withdraw the filed petition by the Learned Counsel on his behalf. The Petition was hence disposed of by the court as withdrawn and the case was restricted to Petitioner No. 1 and 2. The Petitioners were alleged of being a part of the killing of the party as the body was found in the pond of them. Hence, they were apprehended arrest under Section 304B/34 of the Indian Penal Code. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that they are separate in mess and residence and have no connection with any foul play. It was added that the marriage took place 6 years prior and the couple had 2 children and there exists no event to commit the crime. It was mentioned in the FIR about the Dowry Demand and Torture but there exists no supporting evidence or material to the same with the police or the deceased. Learned counsel submitted that the pond was of the temple in the village and the deceased may have slipped and fallen in the pond leading to her death by drowning. The Learned Additional Public Prosecutor of the State added and submitted that the mentioned circumstances indicate the involvement of the petitioners. It was the duty of the petitioners that if the deceased had gone somewhere and have not returned and there exists no information or news about the same, to report and intimate the police as she was missing. The information was given by some other person and when they arrived the body was lying in the pond and it seemed as if the members didn’t bother at all and hadn’t informed anyone. It was further argued that a normal person must inform the authorities about such an incident but in this case, the circumstances weren’t acceptable that they were so unaware of the deceased. The Hon’ble High Court Of Patna,” Having considered the facts and circumstances of the case and submissions of learned counsel for the parties, the Court finds substance in the contention of learned APP. The conduct of the petitioners, as has been submitted by learned APP, does not inspire confidence with regard to their innocence.” The Court hence denied the petition for pre-arrest bail and dismissed it.