The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to former MLA Vijay Mishra in a criminal case registered at Gopiganj police station in district Bhadohi for criminal conspiracy and demanding money for murder.
A single-judge bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc Bail Application filed by Vijay Mishra.
By means of the bail application, the applicant has prayed to be enlarged on bail in Case at Police Station Gopiganj, District Sant Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi) under Sections 115, 120-B IPC. The applicant is in jail since 14.08.2020.
The bail application of the applicant was rejected by the trial court on 30.11.2022.
The following arguments made by G.S Chaturvedi, Senior Counsel, assisted by Saurabh Raj Srivastava, counsel on behalf of the applicant, which could not be satisfactorily refuted by Paritosh Kumar Malviya, AGA-I for the State from the record and Abhishek Kumar Yadav, counsel for the informant, entitle the applicant for grant of bail:
The FIR is actuated by political malafides and has been registered at the instance of powerful persons in the ruling dispensation.
The applicant never made any extortionist demand from the informant and neither was he paid any money for the same.
The applicant is not responsible for the action of persons who made extortionist demand for committing the murder of yet another person from the informant.
Even as per the prosecution case, the principal offenders, Saddam Husain and Shiv Kumar, were dispatched by one Ram Lali and her daughter (wife and daughter of the applicant respectively). The women members have been roped in only to dishonour the applicant’s family.
The applicant is opposed to certain powerful elements in the current disposition. The applicant admittedly did not make any extortionist demand from the informant. The applicant had neither committed any offence. No evidence exists to show that he was planning to commit any offence. The criminal case is an abuse of the process of the Court.
The applicant has explained his criminal history. It is also contended that the applicant is a convenient scapegoat for police authorities. The applicant has been falsely nominated due to political considerations in a number of cases only to show the proficiency of the police investigators. The said criminal cases have no bearing on the bail application.
The applicant is not a flight risk. The applicant being a law abiding citizen has always cooperated with the investigation and undertakes to cooperate with the court proceedings. There is no possibility of his influencing witnesses, tampering with the evidence or reoffending.
In the light of the preceding discussion and without making any observations on the merits of the case, the Court allowed the bail application.
The Court ordered let applicant Vijay Mishra be released on bail in the aforesaid case crime number, on furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court below. The following conditions be imposed in the interest of justice:
(i) The applicant will not tamper with the evidence or influence any witness during the trial.
(ii) The applicant will appear before the trial court on the date fixed, unless personal presence is exempted.