J&K: Cop in jail for ‘fake encounter’ gets bail after 18 years
Bansi Lal, a police constable arrested in 2006, was co-accused for allegedly killing a civilian and then projecting him as a foreign militant
Expressing displeasure for a delayed trial, the high court of J&K and Ladakh has granted bail to the policeman in jail for nearly 18 years involved in a fake encounter case in Bandipora.
Bansi Lal, a police constable arrested in 2006, was co-accused for allegedly killing a civilian and then projecting him as a foreign militant. Justice Atul Sreedharan announced bail to Bansi Lal, 56, in the Jammu wing of high court and ordered him to furnish personal bond of ₹50,000, and a surety of the similar amount to the satisfaction of the registrar judicial. The applicant had moved the present application for grant of bail after the case was transferred from Kashmir to Jammu last year.
The judge, who passed the order on Wednesday, expressed his astonishment over the delay in trail.
“There are a total of 72 witnesses in this case, out of which only 28 have been examined in the last 17 years. This court is astounded by the facts of this case. This is a clear cut case of violation of Article 21 on account of delayed trial. The trial is delayed at the stage of prosecution witnesses. The state is unable to show how the delay could be attributed to the applicant,” the order said.
“He being a member of the police, had been charged with the murder of an innocent man projecting him to be a terrorist,” the order mentioned. The senior counsel for the applicant said Lal has been in judicial custody for the past almost 18 years and has never come out on bail except for a few months on interim bail.
“Under the circumstances, the application (for bail) is allowed. The applicant is to be released on bail forthwith upon furnishing personal bond of ₹50,000 and one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Registrar Judicial,” it said.
Lal, a police constable, was among the seven police co-accused, including a former SSP and DSP arrested in the fake encounter of a civilian from south Kashmir who was killed in north Kashmir’s Bandipora in 2006 and projected as a foreign militant.
