(1.) These bail applications, filed by petitioners under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as 'Cr.P.C.'), seeking anticipatory bail, apprehending their arrest, in case FIR No.78 of 2020, dated 22.6.2020, registered, under Sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 307 & 341 of the Indian Penal Code, in Police Station Majra, District Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh, adjudicated on the basis of common record and submissions, are being decided together by this common judgment.
(2.) Section 438 of the Cr.P.C., as existing on date, reads as under:
(3.) It is noticeable that there was no specific provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, empowering the Court to grant bail to a person apprehending his arrest, as this provision was introduced, for the first time, in the Cr.P.C. in 1973. Necessity of such provision was felt by the Law Commission of India long ago, in the year 1969, by observing in its 41st Report (Volume-I) in Para-39.9, as under: