Wearing a bulletproof jacket, he travelled by road to his native village in Gurgaon, where he was greeted with garlands and drum beats.
Nasir (25) and Junaid (35) had gone missing on February 15, 2023, and a day later, their charred bodies were found at Loharu in Haryana’s Bhiwani district. They were allegedly killed by cow vigilantes who suspected them of carrying cattle illegally. However, according to police, when the vigilantes did not find any cattle, they allegedly assaulted and set fire to the duo to destroy evidence.
On March 5, a Bench of Justice Anil Kumar Upman allowed Monu’s bail plea, citing his two-year-long incarceration and the fact that not a single witness out of 74 had been examined during the period.
Jameel Ahmed, a relative of Nasir, said that, “The families are disappointed and panicked with Monu Manesar’s bail… Our sorrow has increased. There is apprehension that they can do something untoward in future and pressurise our witnesses. There is immense despair.”
This was Monu’s second bail plea with the High Court in the case registered at Bharatpur’s Gopalgarh police station, lodged under IPC sections for abduction, abduction to subject a person to grievous hurt, and wrongful confinement, among others.
Earlier, the bail plea of Monu and a co-accused, Anil Kumar, was dismissed by the High Court in January last year, after which Kumar approached the Supreme Court. The top court granted bail to Kumar on January 28 this year.
Monu’s lawyers, Ashvin Garg and others, submitted that he has “falsely been implicated in this case”, and argued that he “is on better footing than co-accused Anil Kumar,” who is the main accused while Monu is a conspirator. They also said there were three criminal antecedents against Monu, and that he was acquitted in two of these and that he was given the benefit of bail in the third.
The lawyers also said that there is minimal likelihood of the culmination of the trial in the near future, because, to date, not a single witness has been examined out of the 74 cited prosecution witnesses. They further argued that he had been in custody since October 7, 2023, and as such, he has suffered incarceration of more than two years and four months. “Further custody of the petitioner would not serve any fruitful purpose,” his lawyers argued.
Public Prosecutor Vijay Singh and Senior Advocate Syed Shahid Hasan, appearing for the complainant, opposed these submissions. They said that looking at the gravity of the offence, as well as the evidence that has come on record so far, the petitioner does not deserve bail.
Justice Upman said that considering the fact that co-accused Anil Kumar has already been given bail by the Supreme Court, “as also the fact that till date, not a single witness has been examined out of 74 cited prosecution witnesses and trial will take considerable time in its conclusion as well as looking to the period of custody, but without commenting anything on the merits/demerits of the case, I deem it fit and proper to allow this second bail application.”
The court directed him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh together with two sureties of Rs 50,000 each. He has been directed to appear before the concerned court whenever he is called upon. The court also said, “Considering the criminal antecedents of the accused-petitioner, it is made clear that the petitioner shall not be involved in any other offence(s) during currency of bail granted by this Court.”
He has also been directed to mark his presence in the concerned police station once every three months, till the conclusion of the trial, with the concerned SHO to “immediately report” the matter in case Monu fails to mark his presence.
In August 2023, at a time when Monu had been absconding, the matter led to a political slugfest between the then Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government and the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government. Gehlot alleged non-cooperation by the Haryana Police, which also registered an FIR against the Rajasthan Police. In September 2023, Monu was picked up by the Haryana Police and handed over to the Rajasthan Police.
Police questioning of some of the accused had confirmed that “Junaid died first in Ferozepur Jhirka and they assaulted and killed Nasir by throttling his neck in Bhiwani, before dousing the vehicle and the bodies with petrol and setting it on fire,” the then Bharatpur Range IG Gaurav Srivastava had said.
Wearing a bulletproof jacket, Monu Manesar travelled by road to his native village in Gurgaon, where he was greeted with garlands and drum beats. (File Photo) 
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