Justice Anil Kumar Upman noted the delay on part of the prosecution to conclude the trial, as mandated under section 437(6) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)
A person who was accused of giving Pakistani intelligence information about the military using social media was recently granted bail by the Rajasthan High Court after being charged under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). Vikas Kumar vs State of Rajasthan
The prosecution failed to wrap up the trial within the deadline specified in section 437(6) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), according to one-judge Justice Anil Kumar Upman.
As per this provision, in any non-bailable offence which is triable by a Magistrate, if the trial is not completed within a period of 60 days from the first date fixed for recording evidence, then the accused shall be granted bail. However, the Magistrate can record reasons for denying bail.
In the November 29 by the Hon’ble justice expressed, “Thus, 60 days have already passed from the first date fixed for recording prosecution evidence. More so, the trial is still pending and statements of only two witnesses out of the total 37 have been recorded and the delay in conclusion of trial are not attributable to the applicant. This lethargic attitude of the prosecution is seriously violating the fundamental right of speedy trial of the petitioner as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and in such a situation, the conditional liberty must override the statutory embargo,”.
The trial would take a long time to end, the judge said, adding that it was not finished in the prescribed period of time.
The Court granted the accused bail as a result.
The first information report (FIR) states that the accused Vikas Kumar, who works in the Gangapur Army Area, was in contact with Pakistani intelligence through social media and was giving them confidential information related to the military. The Technical Cell of the Department received this secret information.
On September 7, 2020, the Jaipur Police’s CID department filed a criminal complaint against him for violating Sections 3 (spying) and 3/9 (sharing secret information with enemies) of the Official Secrets Act 1923 as well as Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy).Charges were subsequently filed against the petitioner after the pre-charge evidence was recorded on April 17, 2023. The recording of prosecution testimony was then scheduled on May 1, 2023.
In its order, the judge noted that the petitioner was facing trial before the Magistrate Court and in any case, he cannot be awarded sentence of more than seven years.
“The petitioner is in custody since June 8, 2020 and thus, he has already undergone one-half of the maximum sentence which can be awarded in case of conviction. Also, till date, out of 37 cited witnesses, only two witnesses have been examined for the last six months since the first date i.e., May 1, 2023 fixed for prosecution witnesses,” the bench emphasized
With these observations, the bench granted bail to the petitioner.
Advocates Kapil Prakash Mathur and Sukhdev Singh Solanki appeared for the Petitioner.
Public Prosecutor Babulal Nasuna represented the State.