Patna High Court
Brajesh Singh @ Brajesh KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- ALLOWED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The order rejecting anticipatory bail was set aside and the appeal was allowed, directing bail to the appellants.
Summary
The appellants – five residents of Raundha village – were convicted in the lower court of offences under several sections of the B.N.S. and the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly assaulting an informant who was a delivery boy. The informant claimed that the accused intercepted him on 7 September 2024, threatened him with a pistol, assaulted him with fists, legs and the butt of a rifle, and stole Rs 1,700. The appellants contended that they were falsely implicated, arguing that the informant could not have identified them at night and that the injuries described were not serious enough to justify denial of anticipatory bail. The Special Public Prosecutor and the informant’s counsel could not refute these contentions, and the High Court found the lower court’s order rejecting anticipatory bail to be unsupported by the facts. Consequently, the High Court set aside the order, allowed the appeal, and directed that the appellants be released on bail subject to Section 482(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Issues considered
- Whether the denial of anticipatory bail to the appellants under the B.N.S. and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was justified on the facts.
- Whether the allegations in the FIR constitute a cognizable offence warranting refusal of bail.
- Whether the appellants are entitled to bail under Section 482(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S. — s. 115(2), 126, 303(2), 3(5), 351(2), 352
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 482(2)
- Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 — s. 3(2)(va), 3(i)(r)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- caste based violence
- Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
- bail
- Criminal Procedure Code
- false allegations
- high court appeal
- BNSS
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL APPEAL (SJ) No.5428 of 2024
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-76 Year-2024 Thana- KOTHI District- Gaya
======================================================
1. Brajesh Singh @ Brajesh Kumar Son of Anugrah Singh R/O-Village-
Raundha, P.S.- Kothi, District - Gaya
2. Uday Singh @ Uday Kumar Singh Son of Chandrika Singh R/O-Village-
Raundha, P.S.- Kothi, District - Gaya
3. Abhay Singh @ Abhay Kumar Singh Son of Chandrika Singh R/O-Village-
Raundha, P.S.- Kothi, District - Gaya
4. Nawlesh Singh @ Naulesh Kumar singh Son of Chandrika Singh R/O-
Village- Raundha, P.S.- Kothi, District - Gaya
5. Vikash Singh @ Vikash Kumar Singh Son of Chandrika Singh R/O-Village-
Raundha, P.S.- Kothi, District - Gaya
... ... Appellant/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar
2. Ankit Kumar Son of Arjun Paswan R/O-Village- Imamganj, P.S.- Imamganj,
District - Gaya
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Appellant/s : Mr. Durgesh Nandan
For the State : Mr. Binay Krishna
For the Informant : Mr. Shailesh Kumar
Mr. Shahbaj Alam
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
5 13-01-2026 1. Heard the learned counsel for the appellants, the
learned Special Public Prosecutor for the State and the learned
counsel appearing on behalf of the informant.
2. The appellants have challenged the order dated
14.11.2024 passed by the learned Exclusive Special Judge,
SC/ST, Gaya in connection with Kothi P. S. Case No.76 of
2024, instituted for the offences under Sections 115(2), 126,
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.5428 of 2024(5) dt.13-01-2026
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303(2), 351(2), 352 and 3(5) of the B.N.S. and Section 3(i)(r),
3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, whereby their prayer for
grant of anticipatory bail has been rejected.
3. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
appellants submits that appellant nos.1 and 2 are persons with
clean antecedent and petitioner nos.3, 4 and 5 have antecedent
of one case and the informant alleges that on 07.09.2024 at 9.00
P.M. he was returning to his hotel where he works as a delivery
boy after delivering food at the house of Sushant Kumar Singh.
It is next alleged that when he reached village Raundha when
Brajesh, Uday, Abhay, Nawlesh and Vikash intercepted him and
Brajesh put pistol on his temple and asked his name and caste
on which he disclosed his name and caste, thereafter the accused
persons started abusing him and said that in their presence he is
riding a motorcycle, thereafter all the five accused persons
assaulted him by legs and fists and abused by taking caste name.
Further, on account of assault, the informant received injury on
his lips, chest and abdomen. Further, Uday Singh went to his
house and brought a rifle and thereafter on orders of Abhay,
Nawlesh, Vikash and Brajesh assaulted him by butt of rifle
causing injury on head and Nawlesh took out Rs.1700/- from his
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.5428 of 2024(5) dt.13-01-2026
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pocket. Further, the informant was brought to Imamganj
Government Hospital on 08.09.2024 at 12.30 A.M.
4. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
appellants submits that appellants have been falsely implicated
in the instant case by the informant. It is next submitted that
from perusal of the allegation as alleged in the FIR, the same
does not inspire confidence for the reason that it does not appear
probable that at 9.30 in the night, five accused would have been
waiting on the road and seeing the informant would have asked
his name and caste and thereafter would have assaulted him. It
is next submitted that it absolutely does not stand to reason that
how the informant recognized the accused persons when in the
nature of allegation as alleged, it appears that informant and the
accused persons were not known to each other. It is also
submitted that occurrence took place in some other manner and
the informant implicated the appellants with the aforesaid
allegation. It is further submitted that in the night when the
informant was coming back to his hotel after delivering the food
at the house of Sushant, he dashed a child on account of which
the villagers got enraged and assaulted him. It is also submitted
that if what has been alleged in the FIR to be true, in that event,
the informant would have suffered grievous injury, but then, the
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injury suffered by the informant has been opined to be simple in
nature. It is reiterated and submitted that only to give
seriousness to the case, a false allegation is alleged that accused
persons after asking the name and caste of the informant
assaulted him. It is also submitted that allegation of assault and
abuse is general and omnibus in nature.
5. The learned Special P. P. and the learned counsel
appearing on behalf of the informant opposes the appeal, but
then, are not in a position to rebut the submission of the learned
counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants that appellants and
informant were not known to each other from before, as such,
how the informant came to know the name of the appellants and
it does not appear probable that five persons in the night would
have been standing on the road and would have assaulted the
informant only for the reason that he belonged to a particular
caste and that allegation of abuse is general and omnibus in
nature.
6. Regard being had to the aforesaid submissions, the
order dated 14.11.2024 is set-aside.
7. The appeal stands allowed.
8. The appellants, above-named, in the event of their
arrest or surrender before the learned Court below within a
Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.5428 of 2024(5) dt.13-01-2026
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period of eight weeks, are directed to be released on bail on
their furnishing bail-bonds in the sum of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees
Five Thousand) each with two sureties of the like amount each
to the satisfaction of learned learned Exclusive Special Judge,
SC/ST, Gaya in connection with Kothi P. S. Case No.76 of
2024, subject to the conditions laid down under Section 482(2)
of the BNSS.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
vikash/-
U T
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