Surprised At Blatant Stand By Superintendent Of Police Supporting Bail Granted To Murder Accused: Supreme Court
The Superintendent of Police (SP) supported the accused and the impugned Order of the Patna High Court, which granted bail to the accused in a 2022 murder case.
Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Supreme Court
The Supreme Court expressed surprise at the "blatant stand" taken by the Superintendent of Police, Samastipur, Bihar, in a counter-affidavit filed by the State.
The Superintendent of Police (SP) supported the accused and the impugned Order of the Patna High Court, which granted bail to the accused in a 2022 murder case. It was contended that the SP had "supported the accused and the impugned order, forgetting that it was an FIR filed by the State, which resulted in conviction after due investigation and prosecution."
The Bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra remarked, “Having perused the said paragraphs, we are also surprised at the blatant stand in the affidavit filed by the Superintendent of Police of the district in support of the accused.”
AOR Dharmendra Kumar Sinha appeared for the Appellant, while AOR Samir Ali Khan represented the Respondent.
The Patna High Court had suspended the sentences of the accused convicted in connection with the murder of a village ‘Mukhiya.’ The accused were sentenced to life imprisonment under Sections 302, 34 and 120B of the IPC.
However, the High Court, after a preliminary examination of the records, noted that the delay by the deceased's wife, a sitting Mukhiya, in reporting the matter, created "sufficient space for the appellants to argue that they have been falsely implicated, perhaps because of political motives".
“In that view of the matter, it has been argued that merely because there was a delay in registering the FIR, the prosecution case ought not to be discarded totally. It could be a case of motivated murder and for the Doctor to talk about gun-shot wounds on the body of the deceased, it may not be necessary for him to be an expert in forensics,” the High Court remarked.
Consequently, the High Court decided to suspend the sentences of the accused, directing their release on bail during the pendency of the Appeal.
“Let the newly added respondent no.3 be served through the learned counsel for respondent no.2-State. A personal affidavit shall be filed by the newly added respondent no.3, explaining as to under what circumstances, such stand was taken by him in the affidavit in the present case,” the Supreme Court ordered.
Consequently, the Bench impleaded Ashok Mishra, holding the post of Superintendent of Police, Samastipur, Bihar, as Respondent no.3 in all the matters.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court listed the matter on August 1, 2025, for further hearing.
Cause Title: Madhuri Devi v. Arjun Das @ Kariya & Anr. Etc. (SLP (Crl.) No(s).2126-2130/2025)
Appearance:
Appellant: AOR Dharmendra Kumar Sinha; Advocates Atul Jha, Rajiv Kumar Jha and Surabhi Jain
Respondent: AOR Samir Ali Khan, Rohit Kumar Singh, Ashutosh Thakur, Nirmal Kumar Ambastha and Jay Kishor Singh; Advocates Pranjal Sharma, Kashif Khan, Shivam Sharma, Akash Kumar, Amit Kumar, Saurabh Agrawal, Chandra Pratap, Amit Kashyap, Ritesh Singh, Ashmita Bisarya, Smriti Singh and Dharmendra Kumar