Authority: Supreme Court of India

Order Date: October 15, 2026

Case Overview

  • Parties: Appellant Tinku Kumar @ Prabhu Kumar @ Prabhu Chaudhary vs. State of Bihar.
  • Incident Details: On 19‑01‑2025 at about 9:15 pm, 9‑10 armed persons entered the E‑cart Logistics office (Khabra Branch), Muzaffarpur. They held and stabbed hostages, looted approximately Rs.4,95,000 from the cash counter along with mobile phones. When the office siren rang, one assailant shot delivery boy Prakash Kumar, resulting in his death.
  • Legal Proceedings: FIR No. 33/2025 was registered at Police Station Muzaffarpur Sadar against 9‑10 unknown persons. During investigation, co‑accused Sandeep Jha, Raja Babu, Nitesh Kumar and Vishun Kumar Sah gave confessional statements that implicated the appellant. Consequently, the appellant was apprehended, a supplementary charge‑sheet was filed, and charges were framed.
  • Bail History of Co‑accused: Co‑accused Mohit, Nitesh Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, Sandeep Kumar Jha and others were granted bail.
  • Grounds for Bail: The appellant was not named in the FIR; his involvement emerged solely from the confessional statements of co‑accused. No property was recovered from him. The Court observed that co‑accused in a similar position had been granted bail and, applying the principle of parity, held that the appellant is also entitled to regular bail.

Final Outcome

  • The appeal is allowed. The impugned order is set aside.
  • The appellant is ordered to be released on regular bail, subject to terms and conditions the jurisdictional court may impose.
  • All pending applications, if any, are disposed of.

Additional Record of Proceedings

  • A separate petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No. 14980/2026, arising from the High Court judgment dated 07‑04‑2026 (CR. MISC. No. 21856/2026), was heard.
  • Counsel for the petitioner included Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, and Adv. Anamika Mishra; counsel for the respondent included Ms. Aditi Tripathi and Adv. Udayan Sinha.
  • The Court granted leave and allowed the appeal as per the signed order placed on file.
  • Pending applications, if any, were disposed of.

Topics: Criminal Law, Bail Grant