Kanoon Ki Dastak
The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Jammu has granted bail to a person in a dowry death case registered under Sections 304-B and 313 IPC, noting that prolonged pre-trial detention and lack of direct evidence warranted his release.
Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, while pronouncing the judgment in Bail Application held that the case did not fall within the ambit of “exceptional circumstances” justifying continued incarceration, especially since the petitioner had already spent over seven months in custody and the trial was still in progress.
The bail was granted subject to a personal bond of ₹50,000 and a surety of the same amount, with stringent conditions to ensure the accused does not tamper with evidence or intimidate witnesses.
The case stems from the tragic death of Jyoti Devi on 22 June 2023, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances shortly after being referred from CHC Ramgarh to SMGS Hospital, Jammu. A postmortem revealed the delivery of a dead fetus, and inquest proceedings eventually led to the registration of FIR under Sections 304-B and 313 IPC.
During investigation, it was alleged that Jyoti had consumed poison due to harassment related to dowry demands. However, the court noted that no direct evidence was found linking the accused or his co-accused to the administration of poison. The police chargesheet filed on 12 December 2023 included not only petitioner/accused but also in-laws Sat Pal, Parshotam Lal, Lovely Rani, and Darshana Devi.
Significantly, the co-accused had already been granted bail by the Sessions Court, Samba on 29 February 2024, while petitioner’s bail was denied earlier on 29 June 2024.
The High Court emphasized that the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution is fundamental and must not be curtailed unless absolutely necessary. The Court cited Supreme Court precedents including Sanjay Chandra v. CBI and Dataram Singh v. State of U.P., reaffirming the principle that “bail is the rule, jail is the exception.”
The court observed:
“Prolonged incarceration defeats the right of an accused to defend himself. Keeping the petitioner in detention would amount to pre-trial punishment.”
Moreover, it was found that some prosecution witnesses had resiled from their earlier statements and that Ajay Kumar, a key witness, had stated that the petitioner was not present at the residence at the time of the incident.
Conditions of Bail
The court imposed the following conditions on the petitioner:
He shall not influence or intimidate witnesses. He must attend all trial dates, barring exceptional circumstances. He shall not leave the territorial jurisdiction of J&K without prior permission. The prosecution can seek cancellation of bail if any misconduct is reported