Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To SHUATS Director Vinod Bihari Lal In An Attempt To Murder Case

The Allahabad High Court today granted bail to Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology And Sciences (SHUATS) director Vinod Bihari Lal in a case lodged against him for allegedly attempting to murder, causing grievous hurt to a person.

A bench of Justice Piyush Agrawal granted him relief while directing him to deposit Rs. 10 lacs before the trial court before his release. The Court further ordered that any violation of the bail conditions would result in the automatic cancellation of bail and the immediate release of the deposited amount to the State. 

It was the primary contention of Bihari's counsel that he was not named in the FIR and the FIR was lodged with an inordinate delay without there being any plausible explanation for the same. He further submitted that the informant is a former student of the SHUATS, who could not complete his degree course and he pressurized the Administration to issue a degree to him without clearing the examination, to which the University administration refused, due to which the first informant bears personal grudge with the applicant.

It was also argued that the applicant has been made the victim of political vendetta and multiple baseless cases have been maliciously filed against the applicant to dent his reputation in the society. 

Importantly, it was strongly argued that the applicant, along with University officials moved a Writ Petition before the Apex Court challenging the instant case, along with some other cases, in which the Apex Court, while issuing notice, directed that no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioners.

It was further submitted that the co-accused – Rajendra Bihari Lal has been granted interim bail in connection with the instant case crime by the Apex Court.

On the other hand, the AAG submitted that the injuries were grievous in nature, which is evident from the statement of the Doctor. The injuries and the statements of the eyewitnesses corroborate the prosecution story as well as the version of the FIR. The applicant was brought to the hospital in serious condition.

It was further submitted that there are more than 35 criminal cases against the applicant and therefore, he does not deserve bail. He further submits that as per the supplementary medical report, 12 injuries were found on the body of the injured and the injury was grievous in nature.

It was also submitted that in the statement under section 161 CrPC, the applicant had confessed his crime and based on the evidence collected during the investigation, it is clear that the applicant was involved in the conspiracy along with other accused persons. He further submitted that the applicant was a conspirator of threat and on his direction, an attempt to murder was made by the hired accused persons.

Against this backdrop, considering the facts and circumstances of the case, perusing the records and also considering the nature of allegations, and arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the parties and without expressing any opinion on the merit of the case, the Court found it a fit case for granting bail.

Appearances

Counsel for Applicant: Amit Kumar Srivastava, Kumar Vikrant

Counsel for Opposite Party: Additional Advocate General PK Giri, Vishal Tandon 

Case title - Vinod Bihari Lal vs. State of UP 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 183 [CRIMINAL MISC. BAIL APPLICATION No. - 51149 of 2023]

Case citation: 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 183

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