InBail Appln. 1938/2023 -DEL HC- Delhi High Court grants bail to accused in murder case, citing lack of evidence & possible suicide pact
Justice Vikas Mahajan [20-11-2023]

Read Order: Naveen Uppal @ Sunny V. State (NCT of Delhi)

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, November 23, 2023: The Delhi High Court has granted bail to a man accused of murder, citing the possibility of a consensual romantic relationship between the accused and the deceased, along with the notion of a suicide pact.

The petitioner had filed a bail petition under Section 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.), seeking release in a case registered under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, along with Sections 25/27/54/59 of the Arms Act, 1959.

The prosecution's case revolved around the discovery of a deceased woman in a Ford Eco Sport car at Hindu College. The individual found sitting in the driver's seat, identified as Naveen Uppal @ Sunny (petitioner), disclosed the woman's name as Anjali Devi. An inquiry revealed that the petitioner and the deceased had been in a relationship for several years, despite the fact that the deceased was married with children, and the petitioner was married to another woman. According to the prosecution, the petitioner asked the deceased to leave him, and when she refused, he allegedly shot her.

The single-judge bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan noted that the petitioner and the deceased had a cordial relationship, and their families were acquainted. Given these circumstances, the bench acknowledged the potential for a consensual romantic relationship between the petitioner and the deceased, refraining from ruling it out at this stage.

However, the bench noted that the petitioner and the deceased had a suicide pact, and after the deceased committed suicide, the petitioner attempted to do the same. The attempt was unsuccessful as the country-made pistol did not fire when the petitioner tried to use it. The report from the FSL indicated that the pistol was in normal working order, but the cartridge recovered from the petitioner did not fire despite multiple attempts.

The bench observed that one of the motives ascribed to the petitioner by the prosecution was non-repayment of money borrowed from the deceased and her husband. However, a review of the conversation transcript indicated that the petitioner and his mother had already agreed to return the money, casting doubt on the alleged motive for the murder.

The bench also took into account a transcript of an audio recording from the day before the alleged incident indicating the deceased's expression of love for the petitioner and her statement that she cannot live without him. Additionally, the deceased expressed her desire to not continue her life without the petitioner's company, while the petitioner also expressed fondness for the deceased. This seemed to contradict the prosecution's version that the petitioner killed the deceased after she refused to leave him.

The benchstated that while the probative value of testimonies and evidence will be assessed by the Trial Court later, in the present context of the petitioner's bail application, the possibility of a consensual romantic relationship between the petitioner and the deceased, along with the notion of a suicide pact where the deceased shot herself, cannot be dismissed. The testimonies of prosecution witnesses and other evidence, considered solely for the purpose of the bail application, appeared to favour granting bail to the petitioner.

The Court also said it could not overlook the fact that the prosecution had cited 64 witnesses, with only 24 of them being examined over the last 7 years. It was evident that the trial was going to be protracted.

Thus, considering the above discussed circumstances in entirety, the Court was of the view that the petitioner was entitled to grant of regular bail pending trial.