Calcutta HC grants murder accused bail as trial remains inconclusive after 11 years

KOLKATA: After more than 11 years of custody, a man accused of killing his two daughters and dumping them on the roadside in Kolkata in 2012 was granted interim bail till Nov-end by the Calcutta High Court due to delay in trial.

“Purely on the ground of inordinate and unexplained delay in progress of trial, we enlarge the petitioner on interim bail,” the HC division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray said in their order on Sept 24.

The accused, Istiaque Ahamad alias Istiaque Sk, was in custody for 11 years and seven months. The state on Sept 24 submitted that the trial is not yet complete because it still had two more prosecution witnesses to be examined. The state had on May 7 told another bench of the HC that it was trying to complete the trial within a month.

“Given the conduct of the prosecution, we are not sure when the trial will actually conclude,” the bench stated.

The matter dates back to 2012, when a taxi driver named Jagannath Rai on Jan 25 afternoon allegedly found the head of a teen girl in a KMC vat near Dhakuria Station Road crossing. It was alleged that he was sitting at a roadside eatery when he saw two people put a synthetic bag in the vat. Foul smell from the bag allegedly caused suspicion and he peeped inside the bag.

Based on Rai’s statement, a case was lodged at Lake police station on the same day against unknown persons. The case was transferred to the homicide squad of the detective department of Kolkata Police. During the course of the investigation, the man was arrested on Feb 11, 2013.

Parallelly, based on a letter of complaint dated Jan 24, 2012, from a person named Sk Munna, who stated that he had found the body of a girl aged around 9 to 10 years in a plastic bag on the Park Circus railway station platform, a case was registered by Ballygunge GRPS.

The prosecution alleged that both the deceased girls were the man’s daughters from his second marriage. On the prayer of investigating officer, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Alipore, directed amalgamation of the two cases.

The chargesheet was submitted on May 6, 2013, for alleged offences under sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the father. The case was subsequently transferred to the court of Additional District and Sessions’ Judge for trial and disposal.

The advocate representing the petitioner stated that out of 35 witnesses cited in the chargesheet, evidence of only 28 was completed and that there is no possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future. The man claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case on the basis of “baseless and concocted” allegations.

The man further stated that prolonged custodial detention has ruined him socially and caused great hardship to his family.

“...the prosecution, in spite of getting several opportunities, could not complete their evidence thus ensuring the continued incarceration of the petitioner causing thereby a gross miscarriage of justice,” the HC order said.

The high court had earlier rejected this bail plea in 2013.
The lower court had also rejected the bail plea on March 21, which was challenged in the high court.