The Allahabad High Court on July 2 held that there is no place for those citizens in the society who go to the extent of eliminating a family member for choosing a life partner of his/her choice while denying bail to a man for participating in the ‘brazen act of honour killing’ of his sister.
A Single Bench of Justice passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc bail Application filed by Gulshan in connection with Case under Sections 302, 307, 506 IPC, Police Station Kotwali Mainpuri, District Mainpuri.
The submission of Ansar Ahmad Counsel for the applicant is that the role assigned to the applicant is of assaulting the injured witness Rohit Kumar and the role of shooting is assigned to the other co-accused, but not the applicant.
He submitted that once the injured witness has testified to the fact that it was not the applicant Gulshan who shot the deceased or injured Rohit Kumar, his case is distinguishable from the other applicant and he is entitled to bail.
S.S Tiwari, Additional Government Advocate has opposed the prayer for bail.
S.S Tiwari, A.G.A. submitted that it is a case of honour killing, inasmuch as Rahul and Jyoti had married contrary to the wish of Jyoti’s family. It is pointed out that Jyoti was from a different caste than that of Rahul Kumar’s and this had endangered her family.
The assailants in the case include Brijesh Mishra, Jyoti’s father, whereas the other co-accused Ashok Mishra is Jyoti’s father’s brother and co-accused Raghvendra and Raghurai, are Ashok Mishra’s sons whereas the applicant Gulshan is Brijesh Mishra’s son, that is to say, Jyoti’s brother.
Tiwari submitted that the assault as a whole wherein the applicant has participated is a brazen act of honour killing and a refusal by family members of Jyoti to abide by the constitutional values so dear to the law for ensuring personal liberty of citizens.
It is argued that Jyoti’s family, going by the eye-witness account has eliminated her to redeem their false notions of family honour and shot her husband also to punish him.
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“The Court has considered the rival submissions advanced on both sides. Prima facie, it is a brazen case of honour killing where family members, including the deceased Jyoti’s father, uncle, cousin and her brother have all participated to put an end to a young life on account of a false sense of family pride, which they have prima facie sought to redeem through this crime. The applicant is certainly an active participant in the entire episode, though he may not have wielded the gun or inflicted the fatal injury”, the Court said.
“In the opinion of the Court, prima facie if these allegations were to be established at the trial, there is no place for citizens in our society who act in derogation of the much cherished constitutional values of individual liberty, and, instead, repose faith in archaic social values of family honour to an extent that they would go to eliminate a family member choosing a life partner for herself”, the Court observed.
No case for bail in the opinion of the Court is made out. Therefore, the Court rejected the bail application.