Delhi’s Rohini Court has recently granted bail to accused Deepak Khanna in the Kanjhawala hit & run case.
According to Delhi Police, the accused was falsely deposed before the police that he was driving the offending vehicle in order to save the accused who was actually driving the car at the time of the accident and also had a driving license.
This matter is connected to a girl that was dragged beneath the car for 13 kilometres on December 31 2022 night and January 1, 2023. Additional Sessions Judge Neeraj Gaur granted bail to the accused Deepak Khanna after considering the facts and submissions made by the counsel.
While granting bail the court noted that, “The allegations against the applicant/accused do not reveal that he was in Conspiracy with other accused persons for the graver offense under section 302 IPC.”
The court said, “The charge sheet against him is only u/s 201/212/182 IPC r/W conspiracy to commit these offenses. Offenses under Section 201/212/182 IPC are bailable offenses.”
ASJ Neeraj Gaur observed that “In case of bailable offenses, the bail has to be granted mandatorily and not as a matter of concession.” On May 12, the court ordered that the application is allowed and the accused is admitted to bail on furnishing of a bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 with one surety in the like amount.
The co-accused Ankush Khanna and Ashutosh Bhardwaj have already been granted bail by the court. The allegations against Deepak are the same as those of the above two accused.
Advocate Singh argued that the applicant Deepak hasn’t been charge-sheeted for any non-bailable offense and he’s authorized to bail as a matter of right. While on the other hand, the bail plea was opposed by the Additional public prosecutor (APP) on the ground that the allegations are serious in nature.
Additional public prosecutor argued that the accused was in conspiracy with the other accused persons in respect of the serious offenses hence the bail may not be granted.
Also, the court took note of the charge sheet which stated that the applicant accused Deepak Khanna initially came forward & falsely projected himself to the police that it was he who was driving the car.
The court noted that a criminal conspiracy between co-accused Ashutosh Bhardwaj (the possession owner of the offending car) was devised to save accused Amit Khanna along with accused Ankush (who is the brother of accused Amit Khanna).
The police said that Accused Deepak Khanna was promised to be given some monetary benefit for deposing falsely before the police to mislead the investigation.
Accused Amit Khanna, Krishan, Mithun, and Manoj Mittal have been charge-sheeted under section 302/201/212/34/120B/182 of the IPC.
