ASHU SANDHU v. STATE OF PUNJAB
Court: High Court of Punjab and Haryana
Bench: MRS. JUSTICE AMARJOT BHATTI
Judgment date:
Case summary
High Court of Punjab and Haryana judgment dated 2025-09-24. ASHU SANDHU v. STATE OF PUNJAB. Read the judgment and case details on LawSphereX.
Judgment text
CRM-M-26886-2025 and other connected cases -1- 218 (3 cases) IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision:- 24. 09. 2025 (1) CRM-M-26886-2025 Ashu Sandhu ... Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ... Respondent (2) CRM-M-28771-2025 Ajay ... Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ... Respondent (3) CRM-M-36702-2025 Simran Kaur @ Pooja ... Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ... Respondent CORAM:- HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE AMARJOT BHATTI Present: Mr. Mikhail Kad, Advocate for the petitioner(s) in CRM-M Nos. 26886 and 28771 of 2025. Mr. Himanshu Chhabra, Advocate for the petitioner in CRM-M-36702-2025. Ms. Manjot Kaur, AAG, Punjab. CRM-M-26886-2025 and other connected cases -2- AMARJOT BHATTI, J. (Oral) 1. All aforementioned petitions have arisen out of same FIR, therefore, same are taken up together for disposal. Further, documents annexed in lead case are referred for disposal of aforesaid petitions. 2.
Petitioner(s) Ashu Sandhu, Ajay and Simran Kaur @ Pooja have filed separate petitions under Section 483 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular bail in FIR No. 10 dated 24. 01. 2024 (Annexure P-1) under Section 363, 366-A, 376DA, 370, 370A, 372, 373 of IPC, Section 4 & 6 of POCSO Act and Section 3 & 4 of Immoral Traffic Act registered at Police Station Lehra, District Sangrur. 3. Facts of the case are, complainant ‘NS’ gave his statement that th he is father of victim ‘JK’ aged about 16 years, who was studying in 10 class. On 20. 01. 2024, he had gone out alongwith his family for some personal work. Victim ‘JK’ and her grandmother ‘AK’ were present at home. When they reached home at 10:00 pm, victim was not present in the house. They started searching for her but could not locate her whereabouts. He was sure that his daughter has been enticed away by some unknown person. 4.
As per status report, during investigation, on the basis of secret information victim was recovered on 03. 02. 2024 near Gugga Mari, Sunam. She was taken for medical examination but she refused for medical checkup. She was produced before Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Moonak, where her statement was recorded under Section 164 Cr. P. C. On CRM-M-26886-2025 and other connected cases -3- 09. 02. 2024, victim was admitted in SDH, Moonak by her parents. Date of Birth of victim was 05. 12. 2008. Victim named Sikander Singh who suggested her to meet him. She narrated how she travelled from one place to the other. Thereafter, she came in contact with two boys sent by Sikander Singh namely Ashu Sandhu and Ajay Kumar who dropped her at the house of Simran Kaur @ Pooja. There she was forced to indulge in prostitution. On completion of entire investigation, challan was presented against Ajay, Ashu Sandhu and Simran Kaur @ Pooja, whereas, Sikander Singh was declared innocent. 5.
Learned counsel representing petitioner Ashu Sandhu in CRM- M-26886-2025 and petitioner Ajay in CRM-M-28771-2025 pointed out that they are falsely implicated in this case. Ajay was arrested on 06. 08. 2024, whereas, Ashu Sandhu was arrested on 11. 02. 2024. Since then they are behind the bars. Both of them are facing trial. Statements of material witnesses have been recorded. Statement of father of victim is Annexure P-4, statement of mother of victim is Annexure P-5 and statement of victim herself is Annexure P-6. Victim did not level any allegation against petitioners referred above. She was declared hostile. Therefore, no purpose would be served by keeping them behind the bars. They are ready to abide by terms of bail order. 6. Learned counsel representing petitioner Simran Kaur @ Pooja in CRM-M-36702-2025 advanced the arguments on the same lines.
Learned counsel again referred to the statement of aforesaid witnesses recorded CRM-M-26886-2025 and other connected cases -4-during trial of the case. It is pointed out that victim has not levelled any allegation against her. She is also ready to abide by terms of bail order. 7. Status report perused. Bail petitions are opposed by learned counsel representing State of Punjab. It is pointed out that at the time of commission of alleged offence, victim was minor. As per facts, she was forced to go into prostitution. After framing of charge-sheet against all accused, 03 prosecution witnesses have been examined out of 18 prosecution witnesses completely and one witness has been examined in-chief. Specific role is attributed to each and every petitioner referred above. Their regular bail applications were rightly declined. It is submitted that they are not entitled to be released on regular bail. 8. I have considered the arguments and have gone through the record carefully.
As per facts detailed in status report, allegations are serious. All petitioners referred above have filed regular bail applications on the presentation of challan. Charges are already framed and prosecution witnesses are being recorded. Statements of material witnesses have been recorded i. e. victim as well as her parents as referred above. Victim did not support the allegations at all, who was material witness. She was declared hostile. Other prosecution witnesses are yet to be examined. Trial in this case may take long time. Evidence produced before the trial Court will be appreciated at appropriate stage. No purpose would be served by keeping petitioners behind the bars. Therefore, without expressing my mind on the merits of case, regular bail petitions referred above filed by petitioners CRM-M-26886-2025 and other connected cases -5- Ashu Sandhu, Ajay and Simran Kaur @ Pooja are accordingly, allowed.
They are ordered to be released on bail on furnishing bail bonds and surety bonds to the satisfaction of trial Court/Duty Judge concerned. 9. Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, in all cases, stand disposed of accordingly as well. 10. A photocopy of this order be placed on the files of connected cases mentioned above. 24. 09. 2025 (AMARJOT BHATTI) lalit JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes/No Whether reportable: Yes/No
Source: High Court of Punjab and Haryana. Dataset: Dattam Labs. CC BY 4.0. Text extracted automatically; compare with the source PDF for layout and accuracy.