S.C.AGARWAL, J. - (1.) PARCHA filed by Sri N.I. Jafri on behalf of the complainant is taken on record.
(2.) HEARD Sri G.S. Chaturvedi, Senior Advocate assisted by S/Shri Pradeep Singh and S.B. Singh, learned Counsel for the applicant, learned A.G.A. for the State and Sri N.I. Jafri, learned Counsel for the complainant and perused the records. Learned Counsel for the applicant submitted that according to FIR, the deceased Preetam Singh, on 7.8.2011, was coming from Kashipur to his house in village Dhamman by a motorcycle. The first informant Balvinder Singh and his maternal uncle (mama) Darbara Singh were also going on the same route. At about 5:40 P.M., as Preetam Singh reached the village Khapriya Ramshabad, accused Baldev Singh (applicant), Kulveer Singh @ Soni and Paramjeet Singh stopped Preetam Singh and fired indiscriminately with pistols causing his death. In the meantime, first informant, his mama and one Gurvinder Pal @ Goldy also reached there and challenged the assailants, who managed to escape. Learned Counsel for the applicant submitted that the first informant and his mama are chance witnesses and were not present at the spot. The independent witness Gurvinder Pal @ Goldy disclosed to the police on that very day that he found Preetam Singh in injured state when he was alive. On his asking, Preetam Singh disclosed that he had been fired at by Kulveer @ Soni and one more person, whose name he could not disclose. This witness further disclosed that he had made a video clip of the alleged dying declaration which he would provide to the investigating officer by means of a pen drive. Learned Counsel submits that the investigation was tainted and mala fide and the investigating officer deliberately did not obtain the video recording of the dying declaration from Gurvinder Pal @ Goldy, as the said dying declaration clearly exonerates the applicant.
(3.) LEARNED Counsel for the applicant further submitted that the first informant and Darbara Singh have implicated the applicant, but the investigating officer, for the reasons best known to him, again interrogated Gurvinder Pal @ Goldy and in the second statement, he stated that Preetam Singh had disclosed that Baldev, Kulveer and Paramjeet had shot him. The contention is that at the instance of first informant and the police, Gurvinder Pal @ Goldy was persuaded to change his statement to implicate the applicant. Learned A.G.A. as well as learned Counsel for the complainant opposed the prayer for bail and submitted that the applicant is named in the FIR and the first informant, his mama and Gurvinder Pal @ Goldy are eye-witnesses of the incident, but they failed to explain the reason as to why the video clip of the dying declaration made by Gurvinder Pal @ Goldy was not obtained by the investigating officer wherein the deceased had disclosed the name of co-accused Kulveer Singh @ Soni only.;