The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to a life-convict woman who was arrested in the year 2013 on the charges of chopping off the private part of a doctor in a private hotel with a surgical blade.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Nalin Kumar Srivastava passed this order while hearing a Criminal Appeal filed by a convicted woman.
This is the second bail application filed on behalf of accused appellant, (convict woman), seeking suspension of sentence and grant of bail on the ground of detention period of the appellant. The first bail application of the appellant was dismissed as withdrawn vide order dated 6.2.2023.
The appeal arises out of the order dated 23.9.2016 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Kanpur Dehat in Sessions Trial, arising out of Crime P.S Akbarpur, District Kanpur Dehat.
The appellant stands convicted and sentenced u/s 302 IPC to undergo imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs 25,000/-, in default thereof, she has to undergo additional imprisonment for 6 months.
Counsel for the appellant submitted that the appellant has already served more than 10 years of actual jail sentence; the appeal may take some time for its final disposal and, therefore, in the light of the judgements passed by Supreme Court in the cases of Saudan Singh Vs State of U.P, 2022 SCC Online SC 697 and in Suleman v The State of Uttar Pradesh, 2022 SCC Online SC 1042, respectively, the appellant is entitled to be released on bail.
The State counsel opposes the bail application but is not in a position to dispute the detention period.
“Considering the totality of the case, in particular, detention period of the appellant, the fact that the appeal may take some time for its final disposal and judgements of Supreme Court, without further commenting on the merits of the case, we are inclined to release the appellant on bail”, the Court observed.
“Let appellant, convict woman, convicted and sentenced in the above mentioned sessions trial, be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs 50,000/- (Fifty Thousand) and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned”, the Court ordered.