Neha Sharma murder case: Allahabad HC grants bail to accused, cites lengthy detention period

New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Uday Sarup, accused of murdering 23-year-old PhD student Neha Sharma in the zoology lab of the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, in March 2013.

Without going into the merits of the case, Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh cited the long incarceration period of the accused for granting bail.

"This court is also of the view that though detailed discussion on merit is not required but at least, order rejecting or granting bail must reflect basic reason for the same."

Sarup was arrested a month after the incident and charged under Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life) of the IPC.

After police filed a charge sheet, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In 2014, the court granted bail to the accused under the aforementioned sections. However, after the CBI filed a supplementary charge sheet in 2015 under Sections 302, 376 and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), Sarup was again taken into custody in 2016.

Meanwhile, the father of the victim had moved the Supreme Court against the court order granting bail to the accused. The plea was disposed of in 2019 since the accused had been taken into custody again.

The CBI alleged that Sarup, whose advances had previously been rebuffed by the victim, meticulously orchestrated the murder. In its charge sheet, it said that Sarup had raped and killed the young woman after finding her alone in the lab.

While granting bail to Sarup, Justice Singh noted that there were no eyewitnesses to the incident, as per the prosecution's case, and the post-mortem report revealed no signs of rape, as the genital organs of the deceased were found non-gravid. The judge noted that the initial pathology report did not find spermatozoa in the vaginal smear slide.

However, the court noted that the prosecution's case heavily relies on a CDFD report, with DNA evidence linking the accused to the crime scene. Moreover, the court noted that statements of all 55 prosecution witnesses have been recorded, leaving no possibility of tampering with the evidence.

Given the lengthy detention period, the applicant's cooperation with the trial, and the absence of witness tampering possibilities, the court concluded that bail was warranted.

Further, the court imposed certain conditions for bail saying that Sarup must cooperate with the trial process, shall abstain from criminal activities, and shall not leave the country.

Sarup is the grandson of retired IAS officer Prem Kumar. His grandfather was also the president of the Dayalbagh Satsang Sabha.

The Agra police had earlier framed charges of murder on Yashveer Sandhu, a lab technician. However, the CBI removed the charges against him, maintaining that Sarup and Neha were the only ones present at the spot at the time of the crime.