Srinagar, Oct 31, KDC: Observing that a court cannot deny interim bail by stripping an undertrial of the fundamental “presumption of innocence,” the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has granted interim bail to a former police inspector facing trial for the alleged murder of his wife.
Justice Rahul Bharti passed the directive on humanitarian grounds, noting that the continued custody of the petitioner, Vivek Bassan, was having a severe adverse impact on his critically ill 82-year-old father and his 12-year-old son.
Bassan, who was serving as an Inspector in the Jammu & Kashmir Police and was deputed to the Chief Minister’s Security at the time of the incident, is facing trial in a high-profile case being prosecuted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The case stems from the death of his wife, Neha Kumari, who suffered a fatal gunshot wound from Bassan’s official service weapon on February 26, 2018. While the CBI initially filed a charge-sheet under sections pertaining to dowry death (Section 304-B) and cruelty (Section 498-A) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), the trial court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu, subsequently slapped the harsher charge of murder (Section 302 RPC) during the framing of charges in February 2022.
Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Aseem Kumar Sawhney argued that out of the 88 prosecution witnesses cited in the case, 81 have already been examined. He sought interim bail for the petitioner, whose main bail application was rejected by the trial court in July 2026, citing the critical health of his octogenarian father who has been left to single-handedly raise Bassan’s minor son.
“Thus, the petitioner’s state of custody, as an undertrial is having its adverse effects on two lives, that is of the petitioner’s father as well as his son, one is in advanced stage of life and the other one is in very initial age of his life and both of them are directly related to the petitioner’s concern and custody,” the High Court observed.
“This Court can deny interim bail in favour of the petitioner only by reserving the presumption of innocence till proven guilty viz-a-viz the petitioner but that luxury is not legally available to any court including this Court,” Justice Bharti said.
Granting the relief, the High Court ordered that Bassan be released on interim bail until the final adjudication of his main bail petition. The relief is subject to the condition that the petitioner shall not default on any appearances before the trial court and must furnish personal and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the Additional Sessions Judge and the Superintendent of District Jail, Amphalla. (KDC)
