SITA RAM PANDEY Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application by the petitioner for release on bail.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner Mr. Lekhi, Senior Advocate, has contended that the petitioner is innocent. He has been falsely implicated in the present case. It is a fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that a person is presumed to be innocent till his guilt is proved. Yet, the learned Magistrate by .imposing the condition that the petitioner be released on bail on his payment of a sum of Rs. 1.23 crores declared him guilty even before he was tried on the basis of the alleged offences against him. It is tantamount to compelling the petitioner to be a witness against himself.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner in support of his arguments has led me through Gudikanti Narasimhulu and others v. Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh (AIR 1978 S.C. 429), Babu Singh and others v. The State of Uttar Pradesh, (AIR 1978 S.C. 527) and Shalik Layak v. The State, (A1981 Crl.L.J. 954).