Ankith Indrapalan vs State Of Kerala

Dr Kauser Edappagath, J

This is an application filed u/s 438 of Code of Criminal Procedure seeking pre-arrest bail.

The petitioner is the 1st accused in Crime No.54/2023 of Varantharapilly Police Station. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 452, 341, 323, 324, 354 and 435 read with 34 of the IPC.

The prosecution case in short is that on 21.1.2023 at 3.30 pm at Nandipulam Pottumchalpadam, the petitioner along with the 2nd accused abused the defacto complainant and the petitioner punched him on his forehead with stone and when he fell down, he was attacked with wooden stick. It is alleged that, on the same day at 6 pm, the petitioner along with the 2nd accused trespassed into the house of the defacto complainant and the 2nd accused assaulted the wife of the defacto complainant's friend with intention to outrage her modesty and destroyed the household articles and burnt the motorcycle kept there and thereby committed the offences.

Heard both sides and perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is absolutely innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submitted that there are no materials to connect the petitioner with the alleged crime and hence he is entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application. He contended that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the petitioner and if the petitioner is released on bail at this stage, it would affect the course of investigation.

I went through the FIS. It is seen that the petitioner, 2nd accused and the defacto complainant were friends and they together consumed alcohol at the house of the defacto complainant on the date of the incident at noon. Thereafter, there arose a dispute between them. The main allegation is against the 2nd accused. Admittedly, he assaulted the wife of the friend of the defacto complainant and outraged her modesty. The allegation against the petitioner is that he destroyed the household articles kept in the house of the defacto complainant. The petitioner has no criminal antecedents. Considering the allegations levelled against the petitioner, the custodial interrogation of the petitioner does not appear to be necessary. For all these reasons, the petitioner is entitled to pre-arrest bail on conditions.

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

(i) The petitioner shall be released on bail in the event of his arrest 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 arresting officer/investigating officer, as the case may be.

(ii) The petitioner shall fully co-operate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for the purpose of discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

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

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

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

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

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