SHILLONG: The High Court of Meghalaya on Friday accepted the bail application of the eight accused who were involved in the Rishipara brawl incident against Rs 50,000 each with one solvent surety.
Justice SR Sen in his order said since the bail application is the outcome of a single FIR, all the bail applications are taken up together for disposal by this common order. In response to the order dated December 15, Tura SP Mukesh Singh appeared in the court.
During the hearing, K. Paul, counsel for the petitioners, submitted that on October 13, three boys went to Rishipara and created nuisance in the locality and as a result, there was some altercation between the boys and the villagers wherein the police were informed and the three boys were arrested.
While they were in the custody of the police, one was beaten up and finally succumbed to injuries on December 15, and the other two were released.
Accordingly, an enquiry was conducted after which the police department suspended one of its officers for assaulting the accused. Thereafter, the petitioners went to the police station to lodge a complaint but they were arrested on the basis of the FIR filed by the mother of the deceased and now they are in judicial custody almost for the last two months.
Thereafter, the petitioners were beaten up in Tura Jail by the inmates and subsequently, they were transferred to Shillong District Jail for safety.
The counsel further argued that the accused are in no way involved in the case so they may be released on bail.
On the other hand, State counsel S. Sen Gupta appeared along with the investigating officer and submitted before the court that detention is required as investigation is yet to be done and besides, the main accused is yet to be arrested. So bail application may be dismissed.
The submission advanced by the counsel for the petitioner was verified from the Tura SP who admitted that it is a fact that preliminary inquiry found that one of the officers assaulted one of the accused and as a result, he was suspended by the department.
“After hearing the submissions advanced by the counsel, I do not find any reason to reject the bail application at this juncture. I would like to make clear that it is a settled principle of law that TIP having not been completed cannot be a ground for rejection of bail. Similarly, the main accused having not been arrested cannot be a ground for rejection of bail. Therefore, I am unable to accept the submission of the Prosecution. Hence, I feel that, since the applicants are in Jail for the last two months, their detention may not help the Investigating Authority,” the order said.
Accordingly, the petitioners were allowed to go on bail for a sum of Rs. 50,000 each with one solvent surety of the like amount who is having a permanent resident within the jurisdiction of the subordinate court subject to the satisfaction of the trial court concerned with conditions that petitioners will be bound to appear before the investigating officer twice a month continuously for three months.
Also, the petitioners shall not leave their permanent station without prior permission of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Tura.
There was another condition that the petitioners should maintain peace and harmony in the locality. “Violation of the above conditions by any of the petitioners/accuseds will automatically cancel the bail,” the order said.
