Punjab and Haryana High Court: Harnaresh Singh Gill, J., rejected anticipatory bail to the persons involved in Hooch tragedy. The Bench said,
“One cannot lose sight of the various such like hooch tragedies reported in the recent past from different parts of the country, all leading to death of many number of persons from the marginalized sections of Society.”
The brief facts of the case were such that the petitioners had been booked under Sections 328, 272 and 120-B IPC, Sections 326, 109 and 114 IPC and Sections 61 and 63 of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914. Similarly, another case had been registered against him under Sections 302, 304, 328, 326, 109 and 120-B IPC, Sections 61 and 63 of the Punjab Excise Act and Section 6 of Poisons Act, 1919 with regard to the Hooch tragedy wherein number of persons had either died or lost their eye-sight due to consumption of illicit spurious poisonous liquor supplied by the accused like the petitioner. The said hooch tragedy causing mayhem, had led to a massive public outcry. As per the FIR, the petitioner along with the co-accused had been involved in supplying/selling the illicit spurious country made liquor and alcohol. Such liquor containing poisonous substance was sold to habitual drunkard from the poor strata of the Society, as a result of which, many people had lost their eyesight either completely or partially, besides the death of one Sukhwinder Singh-accused.
On the other hand, the petitioner contended that neither the petitioner was named in the FIR nor any recovery was effected from him yet he had been in custody for the last 10 months, approximately.
Opining that the petitioner was accused of a gruesome crime against the society at large and that the modus operandi and the mens rea behind preparation of spurious country made liquor with the objective of selling it to the people from the underprivileged sections of Society, was a well thought-out design and the same has eaten into the very roots of the Society. The Bench remarked, one cannot lose sight of the various such like hooch tragedies reported in the recent past from different parts of the country, all leading to death of many number of persons from the marginalized sections of society. Opining that as the people used to substance, go berserk under the allurement of the said liquor being cheap, none can speak of their prudence, at the dangling moment of addiction. It was the state of these hapless people, which was taken benefit of by the people like the petitioner, the Bench held that,
“If such kind of persons were released on bail, they would further decay the very system of the Society and their such acts would render the Society full with widowed women; orphaned children and old and infirm parents with full of woes and sorrow tales.”
The matter could be looked at from another angle. The greed of the accused like the petitioner was to earn money at the costs of lives of the innocent and poor people for mere monetary benefits, the Bench added, “if anyone plays havoc and commits brutality of killing the people through passive mode(s), such person having snatched from others the right to live with dignity, does not deserve any kind of leniency and has to be dealt with iron hands.” Thus, holding that the criminal antecedents of the petitioner speak volumes about him, the Bench dismissed the instant application for bail. [Avnash Singh v. State of Punjab, CRM-M-23925-2021, decided on 02-07-2021]
Kamini Sharma, Editorial Assistant has reported this brief.
Appearance before the Court by:
For the Petitioner: Mr. Vikas Gupta, Advocate
For the State of Punjab: Mr. H.S.Sitta, AAG, Punjab
