Abbas vs State Of Kerala

Dr. Kauser Edappagath, J

This application is filed u/s 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking regular bail.

The applicant is the accused No.8 in Crime No.678/2020 of Ottapalam Police Station. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 143, 144, 147, 148, 341, 323, 324, 307 and 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code.

The prosecution case, in short, is that the applicant along with the remaining accused formed an unlawful assembly and in prosecution of the common object of the assembly, with intention to kill the de-facto complainant and his brother, wrongfully restrained the brother of the de-facto complainant, assaulted him with dangerous weapons such as sword, iron pipe etc who later succumbed to the injuries and thereby committed the offences.

I have heard Sri.Sunny Mathew, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.C.P.Pradeep, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to get bail. On the other hand, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and he is not entitled to bail at this stage.

The applicant surrendered before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Ottapalam on 27.08.2024 and he was remanded to custody. The applicant along with accused Nos. 5, 7, 9 and 11 were absconding during investigation stage and hence the split charge was filed against the remaining accused. Accused Nos. 1 to 4 and 6 initially faced trial and they were convicted. Thereafter, accused Nos. 5, 7, 9 and 11 were arrested. They were also released on bail. They faced trial. Accused Nos. 7, 9 and 10 were convicted and accused Nos. 5 and 11 were acquitted. The applicant is in custody since 27.08.2024. The allegation against him is that he assaulted on the leg of the de-facto complainant with an iron rod. There is no allegation that the applicant has assaulted the deceased. In short, no serious overt act has been alleged against the applicant. For these reasons, I do not find any reason to hold that continued detention of the applicant is required for any purpose. Hence, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail.

In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions: -

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.

(ii) The applicant shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m. on every Saturday until further orders. He shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.

(iv) The applicant shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.

(v) The applicant shall not attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or in any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.

(vi) The applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

(vii) The application, if any, for deletion/modification of the bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.