ZAHOOR AHMAD BHAT Vs. UT OF JK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is facing trial in the court of Principal Sessions Judge, Anantnag ( for short" Trial court"), and has moved the instant application for grant of bail after having being charged on 2/3/2020 under Sec. 302, 34, 201 RPC along with other accused persons. The instant application for bail is filed as a second attempt after an unsuccessful attempt was made by the petitioner herein before the Trial Court upon moving a bail application on 8/3/2021 having been dismissed on 9/4/2021.

(2.) The background facts upon which prosecution case has been set up is that on 10/10/2019, some unknown auto driver dropped one Mohammad Akram Sheikh S/o Gh. Hassan Sheikh R/O Assus, Telwani at his home in a critical condition and whereafter, he was shifted to District Hospital Anantnag and then to SKIMS, Soura, Srinagar for treatment where he breathed his last and that the said Mohammad Akram Sheikh had been beaten ruthlessly by unknown persons at some unknown place with intention to kill him and thereafter left him on the way in a critical condition and on receipt of this information case FIR no. 58/2019 under Sec. 302 RPC was registered in police Station Achabal and investigation set into motion and during the course of investigation statement of witnesses was recorded and that the statement of injured could not be recorded on account of his being in unconscious state of mind and that during the course of investigation it got revealed that the deceased have had illicit affairs with one Mst. Ishrat Jan wife of Bilal Ahmad Bhat R/O Lalipora, Kulgam and that the deceased and the said lady had gone to the house of one Attiqa Begum in village Sucjh, Kulgam, where they came to be spotted by the husband of the lady namely Bilal Ahmad Bhat and that thereafter the trio went to the parental home of Ishrat Jan and Bilal Ahmad Bhat accused took the deceased in a paddy field of lalipora, Mir Bazar, where accused Bilal Ahmad Bhat, Abdul Salam Bhat and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat beat the deceased mercilessly with the aim and intention to kill him for having illicit relations with the wife of main accused Bilal Ahmad Bhat, but fearing his death the accused took the deceased in an auto rikshaw and dropped him at his residence at Asho, Tilwara and that from the evidence collected during the course of investigation offences under Sec. 364, 302, 34, 201 RPC were prima facie established against the accused persons and consequently a challan came to be filed before the court of law. Charges have been framed against the petitioner/accused with the other accused persons on 2/3/2020 for commission of offences under Sec. 302, 34, 201 RPC and that the prosecution has listed 36 witnesses and out of which 03 witnesses have appeared in the witness box before the Trial court.

(3.) The petitioner seeks bail in the instant application on the premises that going by the statements of the witnesses examined so far, nothing incriminating has been said against the petitioner/accused and that there is a prima facie case in favour of the petitioner for grant of bail in view of the statement of the witnesses recorded under Sec. 164-A and that the witnesses so far recorded before the court below clearly create doubt in the prosecution story, thus entitle the petitioner to the bail and that pretrial conviction is grave and the petitioner/accused is presumed to be innocent unless held guilty and that in the event bail is granted to the petitioner, he shall abide by the conditions those may be imposed by the court.