Srinagar: Dismissing a bail application in a murder case, the J&K High Court has held that whether the evidence presented by the prosecution is creditworthy and reliable or not cannot be determined while deciding bail.
The court gave reference to the Supreme court Judgement in case of “Kalyan Chandra Sarkar versus Rajesh Ranjan” that at the stage of considering bail application, detailed examination of evidence and elaborate documentation of the merits of the case need not be undertaken.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal was hearing the bail plea of one Mohammad Yousuf and another resident of Bandipora who are accused of killing Abdul Rehman Dar during a scuffle over a land dispute on November 13, 2016. The court noted that the charges were serious and the offence for which the petitioners were facing trial is punishable with death or life imprisonment.
“It is evident that out of 18 witnesses, 17 witnesses have already been examined by the trial court and only Investigating Officer is to be examined. The prosecution has cited as many as eight eye witnesses and all of them have been examined,” the judge noted.
The judge recorded that so far as the present case was concerned, the prosecution had almost exhausted the list of witnesses and thereafter due to restricted working in the courts, the Investigating Officer could not be examined, so there is no deliberate delay on the part of prosecution.
“In view of this, the petitioners are not entitled to bail at this stage. The bail application is, as such, dismissed,” the court said.
The court also directed the trial court at Baramulla to expedite the trial of the case within the parameters of SOPs prescribed by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir for functioning of courts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nothing stated herein before shall have any bearing upon the merits of the case and observation made if any is solely for the disposal of the present application,” the judge said.

NUSRAT SIDIQ