Punjab & Haryana HC Grants Bail to Three Accused in Palwal Arms Case, Summons Haryana Home Department Over Organised Crime Surge

Granting bail to three men accused of supplying illegal firearms for an organised crime syndicate, Justice Sanjay Vashisth directed Haryana’s Home Department to file an affidavit on its policy response to gang networks in Palwal, Faridabad, and Gurugram.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on 6 August 2026 allowed three connected bail petitions arising from FIR No. 34 dated 22 January 2025, registered at Police Station City Palwal, District Palwal, Haryana. Justice Sanjay Vashisth, sitting singly at Chandigarh, held that investigation was concluded, the chargesheet had been filed, and recoveries were already effected, making continued custody of the three accused — Kuldeep Tyagi, Aman @ Aman Bhati, and Akash @ Akash Bhati — serve no further purpose. Beyond the bail orders themselves, the court took note of what it described as a disturbing trend of organised criminal gangs and their sleeper cells operating in Palwal, Faridabad, and Gurugram, and directed the Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Home Department, to file an affidavit explaining the State’s policy and institutional response by 24 August 2026.

The FIR, the Arrests, and the Charges

The case began with a police raid on a secret tip-off during which Akash @ Akash Bhati was apprehended. A personal search allegedly yielded one country-made pistol with four live cartridges and one country-made carbine-type rifle with four live cartridges. His subsequent disclosure statement named two more persons: his brother Aman @ Aman Bhati, and one Amit.

Aman was arrested on 10 February 2025. His disclosure statement, recorded that day, allegedly revealed that he had handed the firearms to Akash after receiving them in a bag from a co-accused named Mukesh. A second disclosure statement from Aman, dated 12 February 2025, allegedly led to the recovery of one country-made pistol with two live cartridges, said to have been supplied to him by one Vishal Kaushik. A mobile phone allegedly used for communication through the ‘Zangi’ application and a forged Aadhaar Card were also recovered from Aman.

Kuldeep Tyagi, the third petitioner, faced the allegation of recovery of one country-made pistol with two live cartridges. He had been in judicial custody since 8 November 2025.

The initial FIR invoked Sections 111(3) and 111(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and Section 25(6) of the Arms Act. Sections 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2), and 238 of the BNS — corresponding to Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code — were added subsequently.

The Prosecution’s Organised Crime Narrative

The State argued that the case was not a routine arms recovery matter. Learned State counsel submitted that the three petitioners were functioning as sleeper cells of an organised criminal syndicate led by Kaushal Chaudhary and Himanshu @ Bhau, both stated to be residing abroad, along with associates including Sahil, Neeraj Pandit @ Neeraj Faidpuria, and Chand Ram. The syndicate was said to be engaged in contract killings, attempted murders, and extortion targeting businessmen, doctors, engineers, and other affluent persons.

The State further submitted that the border districts of western Haryana — particularly Palwal, Faridabad, and parts of Gurugram adjoining Uttar Pradesh — had witnessed a significant rise in such organised criminal activities in recent years, and that the petitioners had facilitated the procurement, concealment, and supply of illegal firearms and forged identity documents for the gang.

Criminal antecedents were placed on record. Kuldeep Tyagi was said to be involved in 17 other criminal cases, Aman @ Aman Bhati in 5 other cases, and Akash @ Akash Bhati in 2 other cases. The State contended these antecedents disentitled all three to the concession of bail.

The Petitioners’ Case for Bail

Counsel for the petitioners contested the organised crime link, arguing that the three accused had no nexus with the alleged syndicate and had been falsely implicated on the basis of disclosure statements. They pointed out that disclosure statements are admissible in evidence only to the extent permissible under Section 23 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 — corresponding to Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — and that no recovery had been effected pursuant to the disclosure statement of co-accused Amit at all.

Parity was pressed as a separate ground. The petitioners placed on record that co-accused Vishal Kaushik had been granted regular bail by the High Court on 12 May 2025, and Munesh Lamba on 7 April 2026. Two others, Amit and Rohit, had been granted regular bail by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Palwal, on 24 November 2025 and 9 April 2026 respectively.

Counsel also submitted that the investigation was complete, the chargesheet had been presented before the competent court, and the trial was likely to take considerable time. Akash had been in custody since 22 January 2025, the date of the original FIR; Aman since 10 February 2025; and Kuldeep Tyagi since 8 November 2025.

The Court’s Reasoning

Justice Vashisth did not engage with the merits of the prosecution case and was explicit that no opinion on the merits was being expressed. The reasoning rested on three concrete facts: investigation was concluded, the final report had been placed before the trial court, and the recoveries attributed to each petitioner had already been effected. In those circumstances, the court found that continued incarceration would serve no useful purpose.

The court also noted the parity argument without rejecting it, though the order does not separately identify parity as a distinct ground for any individual petitioner. The three petitions were disposed of together in a single oral order.

The court was careful to clarify that its observations were not to be construed as any expression of opinion on the merits. The trial court was directed to proceed independently on the evidence on record, in accordance with law and as expeditiously as possible.

Direction to Haryana Home Department

Separately from the bail order, Justice Vashisth recorded a concern about what the court called a disturbing trend in Palwal, Faridabad, and Gurugram, where organised criminal gangs and their sleeper cells were alleged to be operating with increasing frequency, with serious consequences for public order and citizen safety.

The court accordingly directed the Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Haryana, Home Department, to file an affidavit before the court apprising it of:

• the policy framework and institutional measures in place to deal with organised criminal gangs and their sleeper cells;
• preventive, investigative, and intelligence-based mechanisms adopted by the State;
• inter-agency coordination arrangements; and
• specific measures to maintain law and order and curb organised criminal activity in the districts of Palwal, Faridabad, and Gurugram.

The affidavit is to be filed on or before 24 August 2026. A copy of the order has been directed to be forwarded to the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Chandigarh, for information and compliance.

Outcome

All three petitions — CRM-M-21689-2026, CRM-M-29207-2026, and CRM-M-42267-2026 — were allowed. Kuldeep Tyagi, Aman @ Aman Bhati, and Akash @ Akash Bhati are directed to be released on regular bail upon furnishing bail bonds and surety bonds to the satisfaction of the learned trial court or the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Illaqa Magistrate, or Duty Magistrate concerned, if not required in any other case. The bail petitions were filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the provision corresponding to the erstwhile Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.