Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC-LKO:34419
Court No. - 16 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 6337 of 2023
Applicant :- Amit Kumar Saini
Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Civil Secrett. Lko.
Counsel for Applicant :- Arun Sinha,Ram Chandra Singh,Siddhartha Sinha,Umang Agarwal
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Abhishek Srivastava,Ashutosh Srivastava
Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi,J.
1. Heard Sri Arun Sinha, the learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Jayant Singh Tomar, the learned AGA for the State, Sri Abhishek Srivastava, learned counsel for the informant and perused the record.
2. The present bail application has been filed by the applicant with the prayer to enlarge him on bail in Case Crime No. 190 of 2023, under Sections 328, 376, 506 IPC & Sections 67 & 67A IT Act, Police Station Vibhuti Khant, District Lucknow.
3. The aforesaid case has been registered on the basis of an FIR lodged on 28.02.2023 against the applicant and one Akanksha Mishra stating that in the year 2020-21, the informant got an employment in Shree Lakhan Lal Infra Developers Private Limited at a salary of Rs. 10,000/- per month. The applicant was director of the aforesaid company and he allured that in case the informant marries the applicant, he would get her employed in a Government job.
4. The informant started seeing the applicant inside the office and outside also and the applicant made physical relations with the informant and thereafter he declined to marry the informant saying that he was already married. Under threat of defaming the informant, the applicant kept on pressurizing the informant to make relations with her, else he would spread her videos virally. It is alleged that the applicant created a WhatsApp group through a foreign number and posted the informant's objectionable photos and videos in the group.
5. In her statement recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C., the informant reiterated the FIR version and she added that the applicant had taken some obscene videos of the informant
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through the mobile phone of the informant herself and she had sent some of such photographs through the informant sister-co- accused Akanksha Mishra.
6. The informant declined to under go the medico legal examination.
7. A supplementary affidavit has been filed on behalf of the applicant annexing therewith a copy of the statement of the informant recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C., which is at variance with her earlier version.
8. A second supplementary affidavit has been filed on behalf of the applicant annexing therewith a copy of the statement of co- accused Akanksha Mishra, who stated that the informant is daughter of her Mausi and she stated that an unknown child had delivered a closed envelope to her for being given to the informant. She had not opened the envelope but it appeared to be empty and she had handed over the envelope to the informant. She has further stated that being the informant's elder sister, she had advised her to mend her ways. She has further stated that there are two houses in her matrimonial home and the informant used to ask her of give one house to her and it is possible that the informant has falsely implicated her as she has declined her request.
9. In the affidavit filed in support of the bail application it has been stated that the applicant has falsely been implicated for the reason that he had given some money to the informant, out of which some part had been repaid by her and when the applicant insisted for balance money, the applicant has been implicated in the present case.
10. The informant has filed a counter affidavit opposing the bail application and print out of some WhatsApp chat with a number which is not an Indian number, and some WhatsApp chat of WhatsApp Group have been annexed with the counter affidavit.
11. It is further stated in the counter affidavit that the informant has paid Rs. 3,40,000/- to the applicant through banking transactions in several installments and in the WhatsApp chat she has stated that she would return the balance money also. In one of the chat annexed with the counter affidavit, the applicant has demanded ledger book of his company from the informant.
12. Having considered the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case what prima facie appears from the material placed before the Court at this stage is that in the FIR, no allegation of
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any financial transaction or demand of money by the applicant was levelled.
13. Although there is an allegation that the applicant has sent messages to the informant through a foreign number, nothing has come to light in the investigation to connect the applicant with that number. Prima facie, there is nothing to establish that the WhatsApp group mentioned in the FIR was a group created by the applicant or that the videos were posted by him on that group. As per the statement of the informant herself, the objectionable photos were present on her own mobile phone and those had not been forwarded on her phone by the applicant or by any other person.
14. There are several discrepancies in the version of the informant in the FIR, in her statement under Section 161 Cr.P.C. and in her statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C., as noted above, keeping in view the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, coupled with the fact that the applicant has no criminal history, I am of the view that the aforesaid facts are sufficient for making out a case for enlarging the applicant on bail.
15. Accordingly, this bail application is allowed.
16. Let the applicant Amit Kumar Saini be released on bail in Case Crime No. 190 of 2023, under Sections 328, 376, 506 IPC & Sections 67 & 67A IT Act, Police Station Vibhuti Khant, District Lucknow on furnishing a bail bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of magistrate/court concerned, subject to following conditions:-
(i) the applicant shall not temper with the prosecution evidence;
(ii) the applicant shall not pressurize the prosecution witnesses;
(iii) the applicant shall appear on each and every date fixed by the trial court.
17. In case of breach of any of the above conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to move bail cancellation application before this Court.
Order Date :- 17.5.2023 Pradeep/-
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