Ajmal vs State Of Kerala

Application for regular bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C.

The applicant is the 8th accused in Crime No. 1080/2020 of Kuruppampady Police Station, for having allegedly committed offences punishable under

Sections 120B, 365, 368 and 395 of the IPC.

The prosecution case, in brief, is that the first accused had some business transactions with the brother of the defacto complainant and certain

amounts were owed by him to the first accused. The first accused contacted the applicant and arranged a quotation to kidnap the defacto complainant

for the purpose of extortion and robbery and in the prosecution of that conspiracy, the applicant along with the others made arrangements to watch the

movements of the defacto complainant and on 30.10.2020 at about 3.10 p.m, at Cherukunnam Vaikkara road, he was waylaid by accused Nos.1 to 7,

kidnapped and taken to another place from where he was robbed of Rs.3,50,000/- which was kept in the dashboard of the car and he was also made

to sign several cheques for Rs.4,50,000/-. That apart three stamp papers were also executed.

The applicant states that he is innocent and the allegations are not true and that he has got no active involvement in the alleged crime. Therefore, he

may be granted bail since he had been arrested on 02.11.2020 and continues to be in custody.

Heard the learned counsel for the applicant and the learned Public Prosecutor.

The learned prosecutor points out that the applicant is a person having previous criminal antecedents. It is also pointed out that some of the accused

persons involved in this crime are yet to be apprehended. Release of the applicant at this stage of investigation would adversely affect the investigation

and therefore, the application for bail is vehemently opposed by the learned Public Prosecutor.

After having heard the submissions on either side, I find that the applicant has been in custody only since 02.11.2020. The investigation is still at a

nascent stage and the allegations are very grave. Kidnapping and dacoity are the offences alleged against the accused. Some of the accused are yet

to be apprehended. The release of the applicant who had allegedly taken contract of quotation for the first accused for committing the crime is to be

viewed very seriously. An offence committed for remuneration is one of the worst forms of crimes and has to be viewed separately.

Under these circumstances, the applicant is not entitled to get bail at this stage of investigation and the application is therefore dismissed.