The Allahabad High Court has turned down the 6th bail application of Sub-Inspector Krishna Kumar Sharma, who was in charge of a police outpost and is facing trial in the 2020 Bikru massacre case.
Investigators allege that Sharma tipped off gangster Vikas Dubey about an impending police raid, despite having official ties to law enforcement. This alleged warning enabled Dubey to prepare an ambush in Bikru village, Kanpur, on July 3, 2020, which resulted in the deaths of 8 police officers.
Just a week later, on July 10, 2020, Dubey was killed while allegedly attempting to flee custody. Police reported that he tried to escape after the vehicle transporting him from Ujjain to Kanpur overturned.
Alongside Sharma, then Chaubepur SHO Vinay Kumar Tiwari was also booked on conspiracy charges in connection with the massacre.
Multiple Bail Attempts And the Court’s Patience
Sharma’s fifth bail application had been rejected on May 12 this year. At that time, the High Court gave him the option to reapply after “a reasonable period” either to the trial court or the High Court.
Despite this, Sharma submitted a sixth bail plea on July 8 — less than two months later. He based his request largely on the fact that Tiwari, a co-accused whose initial bail plea had also been rejected, was granted bail on June 16 on the grounds of prolonged imprisonment.
Arguments In Court
The defence contended that Sharma had joined the police force only weeks before being implicated and had already spent nearly five years in custody.
The prosecution, however, stressed that the application came too soon after the previous rejection and lacked any genuinely new circumstances to justify reconsideration.
Judicial Reasoning
Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery, while dismissing the plea, stated, “The applicant has approached this court within a period of two months after his fifth bail application was rejected, which is not a reasonable period since while rejecting the fifth bail plea, this court granted liberty to the applicant to approach this court after a reasonable period of time.”
He further clarified, “A subsequent event that a co-accused, Vinay Kumar Tiwari, has recently been granted bail cannot be considered at this stage since the applicant has rushed this court within a short period after his fifth bail application was rejected.”
In its August 11 order, the court instructed that Sharma could file a fresh bail application only after at least six months, and it must be accompanied by an updated report on the progress of the trial.
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