[Bihar railways recruitment protests] Patna High Court grants bail to 5 students

The Patna High Court last week granted bail to five students accused of armed rioting, unlawful assembly and wrongful restraint during the recent protests regarding Railways recruitment in Bihar [Akhilesh Pandey@Akhilesh Pandit & Ors vs State of Bihar]..Justice Rajesh Kumar Verma ordered that the petitioner students be released on bail on furnishing bail bond of ₹10,000 each with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the trial court where the case is pending..The petitioners in the present case were seeking bail after a case was registered against them at the Darbhanga Rail Police Station for the offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code as well as the Arms and Railway Acts. The single-judge had on March 11 given provisional bail to one of the petitioners for two weeks, so he could appear in a recruitment exam for the Assam Rifles.The case of the prosecution in the matter was that in January 2022, a crowd including the petitioners armed with weapons allegedly came to the Sitamarhi Railway Station in huge numbers and blocked a freight train. Later, they allegedly became violent and started throwing stones at police officers leading to injuries and damages to the train.Thereafter,13 protesters including the petitioners in the instant were arrested. Advocate Kumar Shanu, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the petitioners have clean antecedents and have been falsely implicated. He contended that even though the petitioners were named in the first information report (FIR), there were no specific allegations of overt offences against them. Rather there is only a 'general and omnibus' allegation against the present petitioners, he said.Additional Public Prosecutor Anil Kumar Singh strongly opposed granting bail to the petitioners..Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the court decided to grant the petitioners bail, subject to the following conditions:Petitioners shall co-operate in the trial and shall be properly represented on each and every date fixed by the Court and shall remain physically present as directed by the Court and on their absence on two consecutive dates without sufficient reason, their bail bonds shall be cancelled by the Court below. If the petitioners tamper with the evidence or the witness, in that case, the prosecution will be at liberty to move for cancellation of bail. The court below shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and in case at any stage, it is found that the petitioners have concealed their criminal antecedents, the court below shall take step for cancellation of bail bond of the petitioners. The acceptance of the bail bonds shall not be delayed for purpose of verifying antecedents, the single-judge clarified..[Read Order]