"Young Police Officer Lynched To Death By Mob Putting Humanity, Spirit Of Kashmiriyat To Shame": Jammu & Kashmir HC Denies Bail To Accused

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has denied bail to a man accused of lynching a Deputy S.P. of 3rd Battalion Security after observing that his act has put humanity and spirit of Kashmiriyat to shame.

Calling it a heinous and serious offence, Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sanjay Dhar observed:

"It is a case where a young police officer has been lynched to death by a mob of miscreants of which the appellant is alleged to be a part, thereby putting the humanity in general and spirit of Kashmiriyat in particular to shame. Bail in such heinous and serious offences cannot be granted as a matter of course."

The case against the Appellant-accused was that in 2017, while the deceased officer was posted on duty to supervise the control at Jamia Masjid on the occasion of Shabe Qadar, a group including the Appellant and other persons had raised inflammatory slogans against the Government of India. The said mob was also alleged to have beaten up, dragged and lynched to death the deceased officer.

An FIR was therefore registered under Sections 302, 148, 149, 392, 341 of RPC read with Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The Appellant had approached the High Court challenging a sessions court order dismissing his bail application.

It was submitted by the Appellant that witnesses who had deposed about his involvement inthe case were examined by the trial court but had turned hostile and were not supporting the case of the prosecution. 

It was also his case that even if the remaining prosecution witnesses support the prosecution's case, still he cannot be convicted in the matter.

"At the stage of granting bail, a detailed examination of evidence and elaborate documentation of the merit of the case cannot be undertaken. What is the effect of statements of hostile witnesses would be a moot point to be decided during the course of trial of the main case and cannot be decided during bail proceedings," the Court observed.

It added,

"The mere fact that material witnesses have turned hostile, in our opinion, by itself is not sufficient to grant bail because of the simple reason that this Court cannot imagine what would happen till the disposal of the case."

The Court further observed that till the completion of evidence and the trial, High Court cannot step into the shoes of the trial court for the purposes of appreciating the material on record at the time of granting or rejecting bail.

"A perusal of the trial court record shows that it is only in May, 2019, that charges have been framed against the appellant/accused and until that date, he was absconding. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the normal work of trial courts got seriously hampered and in spite of this, a large number of witnesses have already been examined by the prosecution in the case. Therefore, it cannot be stated that there has been any delay in trial of the case," the Court said.

Accordingly, the plea was dismissed.

Case Title: PEERZADA MOHAMMAD WASEEM v. UNION TERRITORY OF J&K

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