Can Bail Be Granted In Murder Case On The Ground Of Settlement Between Accused & Deceased's Son? Supreme Court to Examine

It has been stated in the petition preferred by one of the witness that concept of the grant of bail based on a settlement in a case u/s 302 of IPC is unheard of and in fact goes on to show that accused persons are influencing the witnesses and tampering the evidence.

The petitioner has further stated that the accused persons were granted parole and while on parole they influenced deceased's son to enter a compromise.

Factual Background

On September 17, 2021 respondent number 2 and Co accused Jaydeep Sinh were seated in victim's farm and got into a heated discussion with Pravinbhai.

At exhortation Respondent No.2 took out a revolver and fired on Pravinbhai and also hit him with sword which resulted in he succumbing to injuries.

Thereby a FIR was registered against the accused u/s 302 and 114 of the Indian Penal Code, 30 of the Arms Act and 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.

The Trial Court while rejecting the bail had recorded that if the accused is released on bail, he would tamper the evidence and influence the witnesses.

Aggrieved, the accused had approached the High Court seeking regular bail. The High Court bench of Justice AY Kogje considering that the investigation had concluded and charge sheet has been filed granted the accused bail on the ground that a settlement was arrived at between the accused and deceased's son.

The petition in which reliance was placed on the judgements in Kalyan Chandra Sarkar v Rajesh Ranjan [(2004) 7 SCC 528] and State of Bihar v Rajballav Prasad [(2017) 2 SCC 178] was filed through AOR Somesh Chandra Jha.

Case Title: Bharwad Santoshbhai Sondabhai v State of Gujarat 

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