Not Enough Evidence To Suggest Accused Conspired With Primary Accused: Rajasthan HC Grants Bail To One In Tailor Kanhaiya Lal Murder Case

The Rajasthan High Court granted bail to one of the accused, Mohammed Javed, in the tailor Kanhaiyalal murder case that took place in 2022, on the grounds that prima facie there was not enough evidence to suggest that the appellant conspired with the primary accused.

The division bench of Justice Praveer Bhatnagar and Justice Pankaj Bhandari was hearing the criminal appeal filed by the appellant against the order of the special judge at National Investigation Agency (“NIA”) wherein his bail application was dismissed.

The counsels for the appellant argued that the allegations against the appellant, whose shop was near to that of the deceased, was that he had contacted the primary accused at a tea stall one day before the murder and conversed about passing on the information regarding the whereabouts of the deceased the next day. However, it was argued that no evidence was submitted by the prosecution towards these allegations.

On the contrary, the public prosecutor argued that one of the witnesses had given a statement in relation to the presence of the appellant and the primary accused at the tea stall and the conversation that ensued between them. It was also submitted that certain phone calls were also exchanged between the two on the day of the murder.

Considering the evidence on record, the Court highlighted that the statement of the owner of the tea stall did not support the story of the prosecution. Furthermore, the tower locations of the appellant or the primary accused did not show these two to be present at the tea stall at the relevant time. The Court also observed that no CCTV footage was produced by the prosecution to establish this allegation.

Furthermore, in relation to the phone calls exchanged between the appellant and the primary accused on the day of the murder, firstly, the Court stated that there was no CCTV footage to show that the appellant went to the shop of the deceased to know about his whereabouts and secondly, as per the call details, there was a gap of two hours between the time of the murder and the last call between the appellant and the primary accused.

Based on this analysis, the Court held that prima facie there was not enough evidence to show that the appellant conspired with the primacy accused in the alleged murder. It was observed that the appellant was a young boy of 19 years, having no criminal antecedents, who had been in prison for two years and still the trial would take a long time to conclude.

Accordingly, the criminal appeal was allowed, granting bail to the appellant on the condition of furnishing bail bond of Rs. 2 lakhs together with two sureties in the sum of Rs. 1 lakh each.

Case Title: Mohammed Javed v National Investigation Agency

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 246

Counsels for the Appellant: Mr. Syed Saadat Ali; Mr. Nadeem Qadeer; Mr. Aafreen Rizvi; Mr. Uzma Ilyas; Mr. Aatif Aman

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr. Tej Prakash Sharma