Chhattisgarh HC Denies Second Bail To Abduction-Extortion Accused, Says Hostile Complainant And Victim Alone Don’t Justify Relief

The applicant sought regular bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in a case alleging abduction, confinement, impersonation as police officers and attempted extortion, registered under Sections 140(3), 308(5) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023

His first bail application had been rejected on merits on 28 September 2026

In the second application, he relied, among other things, on prosecution witnesses having turned hostile, bail granted to co-accused, his time in custody and the expected duration of the trial.

The State opposed bail, arguing that no substantial change in circumstances had been shown and that the applicant had a pending criminal antecedent

The application was considered under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which provides for the High Court’s power to grant bail

The Court applied the principle that, after rejection of an earlier bail application on merits, a subsequent application requires a substantial change in circumstances warranting reconsideration

It also held that the effect and credibility of witness testimony are matters for the trial Court, and that the bail court should not conduct a mini-trial; bail granted to co-accused does not, by itself, establish entitlement to parity

The Court considered that the applicant’s first bail application had been rejected on merits and found no substantial change in circumstances sufficient to revisit that decision

It held that the complainant’s and alleged victim’s failure to support the prosecution at trial did not, by itself, justify bail, since the significance and reliability of their testimony must be assessed by the trial Court

Nor did the co-accused’s release establish parity, particularly in light of the applicant’s prior merits-based rejection and pending criminal antecedent

It rejected the second bail application