HC grants interim anticipatory bail to youth in Sambhal violence case

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted interim anticipatory bail to Mohd Alam, a youth, on whose father's plea, a chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Court in Sambhal had on Jan 9 ordered the registration of an FIR against certain police officials, including the then circle officer (CO) Anuj Chaudhary, for allegedly firing upon him during the Nov 2024 violence.Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha granted him interim anticipatory bail till Feb 25 and called for a reply (counter-affidavit) from the state govt. Alam is facing an FIR under sections 191(3) (rioting with deadly weapon), 109(1) (attempt to murder), 121 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant), 132 (assault on public servant) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in a police station of Sambhal district.
Although the applicant's father had argued before the CJM Court that his son was a victim of unprovoked police firing, the state govt told the high court that Alam did not receive any gunshot injury from the gunfire by police. During the course of hearing, the counsel for the applicant submitted that Alam was innocent and expressed apprehension of arrest. He argued that Alam was not named in the initial FIR and no offence was made out against him. It was also argued that the applicant suffered a gunshot injury in the alleged incident and underwent treatment for the same. It was also submitted that the applicant would cooperate during the trial and appear before the investigating agency as and when required. The state govt's counsel opposed the bail application and prayed for time to file a counter affidavit. Earlier, the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Vibhanshu Sudheer had allowed the application moved before his court under section 173(4) BNSS by Yameen, the father of Alam. In his application, Yameen alleged that on Nov 24, 2024, at about 8:45 am, Alam was selling 'pape' (rusks) and biscuits on his kiosk near Jama Masjid, Mohalla Kot, Sambhal and that is when the named police officials started firing at the crowd with the intention to kill. Sambhal CO Anuj Chaudhary and Kotwali in-charge Anuj Kumar Tomar were named in the petition. In its 11-page order, CJM Sudheer had observed that the police cannot invoke the "official duty" shield for criminal acts.