SARABJIT Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of present petition filed under S. 439 CrPC, bail petitioner namely Sarabjit has approached this Court, for grant of regular bail in FIR No. 161/2018, dtd. 31/3/2018 under Ss. 302, 201 and 120-B of the IPC, registered at Police Station Una, District Una, Himachal Pradesh.

(2.) Respondent-State has filed the status report and ASI Surjeet Singh has come present with the cords. Record perused and returned.

(3.) Close scrutiny of the record reveals that on 31/3/2018, complainant namely Sunil Kumar, who happens to be nephew of the deceased Manjeet, got his statement recorded under Sec. 154 Cr.PC, alleging therein that deceased was his maternal aunt (maami), who used to live in a rented accommodation alongwith her family at Mehatpur Basdehra, ward No.2. Complainant alleged that on 31/3/2018 at 8am, his father informed him that his maternal aunt Manjeet has expired. Complainant further alleged that after having seen the dead body of the deceased, he found that there were marks of strangulation on her neck and when he inquired from the daughter in law of the deceased maternal aunt i.e. bail petitioner herein, for the reason of marks on the body of the deceased, she disclosed him that last night, deceased Manjeet had headache and she had given massage to her head. Complainant alleged that CCTV Central Monitor System was kept in the bedroom of the deceased, but same was found to be switched off between 1;00 am to 2;15am in the intervening night of the alleged incident. Complainant in the totality of the facts and circumstances detailed herein above, suspected that his deceased maternal aunt has been murdered by her daughter in law i.e. present bail petitioner and as such, FIR detailed herein above came to be lodged against the petitioner and two co-accused namely Kanchan Bala and Gur Sewak. Since co-accused Kanchan Bala was juvenile at the time of the alleged incident, she already stands enlarged on bail, whereas petitioner and other co-accused Gur Sewak are behind the bars. Since challan stands filed in the competent court of law and statements of material prosecution witnesses stand recorded coupled with the fact that bail petitioner is behind bars for more than three years, she has approached this Court in the instant proceedings, for grant of regular bail.