PRADEEP Vs. STATE NCT OF DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The instant application under Sec. 439 read with Sec. 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ('Cr.P.C.') has been filed on behalf of applicant seeking grant of regular bail in case FIR bearing no. 152/2017 registered at Police Station Dwarka, North Delhi, for offences punishable under Ss. 302/201/34 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 ('IPC").

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that on 25/5/2017, the police had received information vide DD entry no. 10A regarding an unidentified body lying at footpath near Orissa Sadan, Sector 16B, Dwarka. Upon reaching the spot, the police had discovered injury marks on the neck and face of the deceased and blood stains on the jeans worn by the deceased. However, the identity of the body could not be ascertained. Thereafter, the present case was registered under Sec. 302 of IPC. The police had then sent hue and cry notices to the nearby police stations as well as to the neighbouring states. On 26/5/2017, the CRO Branch of the police had identified the deceased as one Marshal, son of Sh. Raj Singh, aged about 22 years, who had been reported as missing on 25/5/2017 at Police Station Ranhola, Delhi. Thereafter, one Arjun had identified the deceased as his elder brother, and he had expressed his suspicion about the involvement of present accused/applicant in causing death of the deceased, since the brother of deceased i.e. Arjun had good relations with Pooja i.e. the wife of present accused/applicant. During the course of investigation, the police had obtained the Call Detail Records of the applicant and it had been revealed that the mobile location of the applicant was in the area of P.S. Dwarka as well as in the area where the body of the deceased had been found. In the meanwhile, the post-mortem report of the deceased had revealed that there were several injuries on his neck, eyes and lips, and the injury on the neck i.e. 'transverse ligature mark 10 cm in the form of pressure was present in the front and both sides of neck. In the midline ligature mark was present 8 cm below the chip and 10 cm above the sterna notch and the width was 2.5 cm. On the right side it was present 11 cm below the mastoid and the width was 2.4 cm. On the left side it was present 12 cm below the mastoid and the width was 2.5 cm' was opined as the cause of death by the doctors concerned. As per prosecution, the applicant had disclosed during investigation that on 24/5/2017, he and his brother Deepak had gone to Transport Authority, Sector-10, Dwarka to enquire about their license and that they had been drinking since the morning. He had further disclosed that in the evening, he alongwith his brother Deepak and his friend Ravi had picked up the deceased from near his residence and while drinking and roaming in the car, they had continued to slap and beat the deceased. On seeing this behaviour, his friend Ravi had got down from the car near Najafgarh road. However, the applicant and his brother/co-accused had then taken the deceased to Gurgaon and on their way from Gurgaon to Delhi, they had killed the deceased by using a belt and had thrown him somewhere near Sector-16, Dwarka, Delhi.

(3.) On 27/5/2017, the applicant herein was arrested in the present case, and he had identified the place where the accused had thrown the body of the deceased. During the course of further investigation, the police had seized the clothes which the applicant had worn at the time of committing murder of the deceased, from his residence, however, the clothes were found to have been washed by his wife. The applicant had then got recovered a black belt measuring 19 cm from his residence and had disclosed that he and his brother had used the same belt in commission of the offence. The FSL report had opined that the injuries caused on the neck of the deceased could have been caused by the belt recovered in this case. The co-accused i.e. the applicant's brother Deepak was arrested during further investigation, and at his instance, the Swift car bearing no. DL9CAU1246 was recovered from Nangloi Railway Station, J.J. Colony. Upon inspection, the police had found blood stains inside the car and the FSL team had then lifted samples from the car for analysis. Further during investigation, it was found that the applicant Pradeep was the registered owner of the car in question. It was also discovered that on 24/5/2017 at 10:43 PM, a challan had been issued by the traffic police officials of Gurgaon Police when both the accused persons were travelling in the car in question. The concerned traffic officials had also informed the police that the deceased was sitting on the rear seat of the car in question on the said day.