"Allegations very serious": Punjab & Haryana High Court denies bail to person accused of cow smuggling

The Punjab & Haryana High Court on May 25 denied bail to a man accused of transporting cows for slaughter, reasoning that the allegations against the accused were very serious [Shrif v State of Haryana]..Justice Gurbir Singh also took into consideration that fact that the accused had concealed pendency of earlier cases against him and had failed to explain this omission. "There is apparent concealment of registration of an earlier case against the petitioner and there is no explanation of the same. So, petitioner is not entitled for grant of relief in this petition only on the ground that he has concealed an important fact from this Court," the single-judge said. .The petitioner was accused of carrying cows in a pitiable condition in a Mahindra Bolero pick-up in the middle of the night. When the complainant, a Bajrang Dal worker, tried to stop them, the petitioner along with others allegedly rammed their vehicle against the complainant's vehicle and ran away. The complainant along with others chased the vehicle. That is when the accused allegedly started pelting stones on the complainant party. They were also accused of throwing cows in front of their vehicle and attempting to kill the complainant. .The petitioner submitted that he had been in custody since November 2022 and nothing had been recovered from his possession. However, the plea was opposed by the State on the ground that the petitioner was involved in another case under the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gau Samvardhan Act, which he had not disclosed. .The Court took note of this submission and found that the petitioner had misled it. Thus, it was found that he was unentitled to bail. "Keeping in view the fact that the petitioner has tried to mislead the Court and the gravity of offence, I am of the view that the petitioner does not deserve the concession of regular bail, at this stage," said Justice Singh while dismissing the petition. .Advocate Azad Khan appeared for the petitioner while the State was represented by Deputy Advocate General Karan Sharma..[Read Order]