Not A Hardened Criminal Who Can Pose Threat To Society: Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Ex-IIS Officer In Wife’s Alleged Murder Case

The High Court was considering a bail application filed in a criminal case registered under section 302 of the IPC.

The Single Bench of Justice Siddharth said, “After hearing the rival submissions, this court finds that applicant is in jail since 11.09.2023. None of the parties have brought on record the current status of trial. Applicant is not a hardened criminal who can pose any threat to the safety of society. He has sufficient assets and is not at flight risk. He appears to be senior citizen as well.”

Senior Advocate Rakesh Kumar Gupta represented the Applicant, while Advocate Anshul Pathak represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The brother of the deceased stated that his sister, who was suffering from cancer, did not respond to his calls one day. When he went to see her, he found the door to be locked and thus called the police. The dead body of his sister was found lying in the bathroom, and there were injuries on her face. The autopsy was done, and the cause of death was mentioned as Asphyxia consequent upon manual strangulation. An arrest memo was prepared. After the recording of the statement of the informant, the site plan was shown to be prepared on his pointing out, and in the same process, the arrest of the accused-applicant was shown to be effected from inside the store room of the first floor, after breaking open the door lock. The Applicant has been in jail since September 11, 2023.

Arguments

It was the case of the applicant that the vital delay of about 8 hours in lodging the FIR had not been explained. It was further submitted that there was pressure from the informant for the transfer of the self-owned house of the applicant in his favor as the applicant had proposed to sell the said house and bring his wife to the U.K./ U.S.A for her advanced medical treatment.

Reasoning

The Bench took note of the nature of the offence, evidence, complicity of the accused and the larger mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution. The Bench also considered the dictum of the Apex Court in Manish Sisodia vs. Directorate of Enforcement (2024) and the fact of overcrowding in jails over and above their capacity by the under trials. The Bench was of the view that the applicant had made out a case for bail.

The Bench, thus, ordered, “Let the applicant, Nitin Nath Singh, involved in Case Crime No. 393 of 2023, under Section- 302 IPC, Police Station- Sector-20 Noida, District- Gautam Buddh Nagar, be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned subject to following conditions. Further, before issuing the release order, the sureties be verified.”

Cause Title: Nitin Nath Singh v. State of U.P. (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC:100311)

Appearance

Applicant: Senior Advocate Rakesh Kumar Gupta, Advocate Navnath Pandey

Opposite Party: Advocate Anshul Pathak, Government Advocate Atharva Dixit

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