Uttarakhand HC Grants Bail In Police-Firing Case, Citing Blackened Wound Margins And A Prima Facie Question Over The Shooting

The applicant sought bail while in judicial custody in connection with FIR No. 0120 of 2026, registered at Police Station Doiwala, Dehradun, for alleged offences under Sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act and Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The prosecution alleged that, after abandoning a vehicle during a police check, the applicant fired at police personnel and was injured when they returned fire; a country-made pistol and cartridges were allegedly recovered from him.

The applicant claimed he had been taken from his home hours before the alleged incident and relied on a medical report describing a gunshot wound with slightly blackened edges, which he argued indicated firing from close range.

The State opposed bail, citing the applicant’s criminal history.

The alleged offences were under Sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act and Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

The Court applied a general, fact-specific assessment of the material and circumstances relevant to bail, including the nature of the injury and the competing accounts of how it occurred.

The Court considered the medical report recording slightly blackened margins around the applicant’s wound together with his submission that the injury was sustained at close range, while the prosecution attributed it to police firing during the alleged encounter.

It concluded that this material raised a prima facie question about the manner in which the incident occurred and, having regard to the overall record, found that the applicant had made out a case for bail.

It clarified that its observations were confined to the bail application and did not express an opinion on the merits of the case; pending applications, if any, were disposed of.