Allahabad High Court

Sarla Devi vs State Of U.P. on 12 August, 2025

Author:
Krishan Pahal

Bench:
Krishan Pahal

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

?Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:137062

Court No. - 65

Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 24446 of 2024

Applicant :- Sarla Devi

Opposite Party :- State of U.P.

Counsel for Applicant :- Brajesh Kumar Singh,Jay Singh Yadav

Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Nisheeth Yadav

Hon'ble Krishan Pahal,J.

1. List has been revised.

2. Heard Sri Firdaus Ahmad, holding brief of Sri Atul Kumar Yadav, learned counsel for the applicant and Sri Nisheeth Yadav, learned counsel for the informant as well as Sri Varun Pratap Singh, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.

3. Applicant seeks bail in Case Crime No. 111 of 2024, under
Sections 498A
,
304B
IPC and
Section 3
/
of D.P. Act, Police Station Karhal, District Mainpuri, during the pendency of trial.

4. As per prosecution story, marriage of son of the applicant was solemnized with the deceased person as per Hindu rites on 27.06.2023. The applicant and other family members are stated to have subjected her to cruelty for a demand of a scorpio car as dowry and thereby led her to death in the night of 12/13.03.2024.

5. Learned counsel for the applicant has argued that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. She has nothing to do with the said offence as alleged in the FIR. The FIR is delayed as it has been instituted in the afternoon of 13.03.2024 at about 12:11 hours and there is no explanation of the said delay caused.

6. Learned counsel has also stated that the inquest was complete about three hours before the said FIR and the informant is the panch witness no.1 in the said inquest proceedings, as such it is a clear cut case of false implication. The applicant is the mother-in-law of the deceased person. There are general and omnibus allegations against all the accused persons.

7. Learned counsel has further stated that there is no evidence of any money or dowry being handed over to the applicant, as such the applicant is entitled for bail.

8. The applicant has no criminal history. The applicant is languishing in jail since 03.05.2024. In case, the applicant is released on bail, she will not misuse the liberty of bail and shall cooperate with trial.

9. Per contra, learned AGA and learned counsel for the informant have vehemently opposed the bail application on the ground that the deceased was found in a lying condition and no saliva was found out from her face and there was no dribbling from it which indicates that it is not a case of asphyxia as a result of ante mortem hanging, rather it is a case of strangulation.

10. Learned counsel for the informant has further stated that heavy amount of money was transferred from the account of brother of the deceased to that of husband of the deceased person, who happens to be the son of the applicant, which indicates demand of dowry.

11. Learned A.G.A. has stated that there is a statement of pandit ji who had solemnized the marriage, who has stated that there was demand of dowry, as such applicant is not entitled for bail.

12. In rebuttal, learned counsel for the applicant has stated that no money has been transferred to the account of the applicant and the money transferred, if any, to the son of the applicant, as such applicant is entitled for bail. The trial is moving at snail's pace.

13. This Court had called for status of trial on 14.07.2025 and the said report received from the trial court dated 07.08.2025 indicates that only one witness has been examined to date and statement of PW-2 is going on, as such there is no likelihood of early conclusion of trial in near future.

14. The well-known principle of "Presumption of Innocence Unless Proven Guilty," gives rise to the concept of bail as a rule and imprisonment as an exception. A person's right to life and liberty, guaranteed by
Article 21
of the Indian Constitution, cannot be taken away simply because the person is accused of committing an offence until the guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt.
Article 21
of the Indian Constitution states that no one's life or personal liberty may be taken away unless the procedure established by law is followed, and the procedure must be just and reasonable. The said principle has been reiterated by the Supreme Court in
Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation and another
, 2022 (10) SCC 51. Learned AGA could not bring forth any exceptional circumstances which would warrant denial of bail to the applicant.

15. It is a settled principle of law that the object of bail is to secure the attendance of the accused at the trial. No material particulars or circumstances suggestive of the applicant fleeing from justice or thwarting the course of justice or creating other troubles in the shape of repeating offences or intimidating witnesses and the like have been shown by learned AGA.

16. The said viewpoint was shared in
AIR 1924 Cal 476 Nagendra Nath Chakrabarthi v. King-Emperor
, whereby the High Court held that bail's purpose is to secure the accused's attendance, not to punish. Courts must consider accusation nature, evidence, likely sentence, and accused's character.

17. In Meerut Conspiracy Case, reported in AIR 1931 All 356 ?
Emperor v. Hutchinson
and AIR 1931 All 504 ?

K. N. Joglekar v. Emperor
, this Court held that High Court's bail power under
S.498
CrPC is unfettered but must be exercised judicially. Bail is generally the rule; refusal is exception.

18.
In
Sanjay Chandra Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation
, AIR 2012 SC 830, it was reiterated that object of grant of bail to an accused of an offence is neither punitive nor preventive in nature. The true object behind grant of bail is to secure appearance of accused during trial. Refusal of bail and detention of under trial prisoner in jail to an indefinite period violative of
Article 21
of the Constitution. The court should keep in view the principle that grant of bail is the rule and committal to jail an exception. Seriousness of the offence is not to be treated as the only consideration in refusing bail.

19. Overcrowding in jails and inordinate delay in disposing of cases often result in undertrial prisoners, who are presumed innocent and incarcerated through no fault of their own, being deprived of their fundamental rights. The failure to ensure a speedy trial despite overcrowding and systemic inefficiencies violates the right to personal liberty under
Article 21.
Overcrowding further compounds the problem, as jails house far more inmates than their capacity, with the majority being undertrials which leads to the loss of identity and dignity of prisoners. The state and judiciary are constitutionally mandated to ensure that undertrial prisoners are not wrongfully confined for extended periods and that trials are conducted expeditiously to uphold justice and human dignity. These factors make it entirely justifiable to invoke
Article 21
protections in such cases. (See:Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons, In re, (2017) 10 SCC 658;
State Of Rajasthan Vs. Balchand
AIR 1977 SC 2447;and
Ashim vs. National Investigation Agency
(2022) 1 SCC 695)

20. Reiterating the aforesaid view, the Supreme Court in the case of
Manish Sisodia Vs. Directorate of Enforcement
, 2024 INSC 595, has again emphasized that the very well-settled principle of law that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment is not to be forgotten. It is high time that the Courts should recognize the principle that "bail is a rule and jail is an exception".

21. The Supreme Court in
Jalaluddin Khan Vs. Union of India
, (2024) 10 SCC 574, held that 'bail is the rule, jail is the exception' even in special statutes like the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
. If the conditions in the special statute for the grant of bail are met, then bail should be granted.

22. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, delay in institution of the FIR coupled by the fact that the informant is the panch witness no.1 in the inquest proceedings, I find it a fit case to release the applicant on bail. The bail application is allowed.

23. Let the applicant- Sarla Devi, who is involved in aforementioned case crime be released on bail on her furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions. Further, before issuing the release order, the sureties be verified.

i) The applicant will not tamper with the evidence during trial.

ii) The applicant will not pressurise/intimidate with the prosecution witnesses.

iii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed.

24. In case of breach of any of the above conditions, it shall be a ground for cancellation of bail.

25. It is made clear that observations made in granting bail to the applicant shall not in any way affect the learned trial Judge in forming his independent opinion based on the testimony of the witnesses.

Order Date :- 12.8.2025/Sumit S

(Justice Krishan Pahal)