Anticipatory bail may be denied where accused allegedly inflict grievous injuries using rods and clubs.

The applicants—Naina Goswami alias Preeti Giri Goswami and Jacob Kumar Yadav alias Jacky Kumar Yadav—sought anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (“BNSS”), apprehending arrest in Crime No. 446/2026 registered at Police Station Kotwali, Korba, for offences under Sections 115(2), 296, 192, 332(C), 351(3) and 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (“BNS”).

According to the prosecution, the applicants and other accused entered the complainant’s house on 18 May 2026 at about 10:00 p.m., abused the complainant, threatened to kill her, and assaulted her and others with sticks and rods, causing injuries.

The applicants denied the allegations and asserted that the incident arose out of an ongoing land dispute and was in fact initiated by the complainant’s side. They relied on a counter-case registered as Crime No. 447/2026 concerning the alleged assault upon the applicants and their family members.

The State opposed anticipatory bail, submitting that three persons were injured and that the injuries, allegedly caused by rods and clubs, were grievous in nature.

Whether the applicants were entitled to anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the BNSS in connection with Crime No. 446/2026?

Whether the alleged land dispute and existence of a counter-case justified the grant of anticipatory bail despite the prosecution’s assertion that the applicants caused grievous injuries with rods and clubs?

The Court applied Section 482 of the BNSS, 2023, which empowers the High Court to grant anticipatory bail to a person apprehending arrest for a non-bailable offence.

In exercising that discretion, the Court considered the nature and seriousness of the allegations, the alleged manner of assault, the number of injured persons, and the reported severity of the injuries.

The offences alleged were under Sections 115(2), 296, 192, 332(C), 351(3) and 109 of the BNS, 2023.

After considering the case diary and the submissions of both sides, the Court focused on the prosecution’s allegation that the applicants had assaulted the injured persons with rods and clubs and that three persons had suffered injuries reported to be grievous.

Although the applicants alleged that the case stemmed from a civil land dispute and relied on a counter-FIR, the Court did not find those circumstances sufficient to outweigh the seriousness of the alleged assault at the anticipatory-bail stage.

On this assessment, the Court held that it was not inclined to exercise its discretion in favour of the applicants under Section 482 of the BNSS.

The Court rejected their anticipatory bail application in connection with Crime No. 446/2026, Police Station Kotwali, Korba, concerning the alleged offences under Sections 115(2), 296, 192, 332(C), 351(3) and 109 of the BNS.