Charlie Luke vs State Of Kerala

This is an application filed u/s 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail.

The petitioner is the sole accused in Crime No.1899 of 2020 Munnar Police Station. The offences alleged are under Sections143, 144, 147, 148, 323,

324, 326, 307, 341, 342, 452, 365, 397, 450, 506(II) r/w149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The prosecution case is that, the petitioner herein along with 10 other persons attacked the de facto complainant and caused serious injuries. The

motive alleged against the accused persons are the obstructions which attempted to be made by the de facto complainant against the construction of

the building by a church. The de facto complainant had sustained serious injuries and the above offences were registered against the accused.

The petitioner was arrested on 24.04.2021 and he is in judicial custody since then.

Heard both sides and perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent of these allegations. According to him, even going by the prosecution,

no serious overt acts are alleged against the petitioner. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that except two accused persons including the

petitioner, all others were granted bail and the orders of the same are produced as Annexure 1 to

The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the said bail application but submitted that no serious overt acts are alleged against the 7th accused, who is

the petitioner herein.

Considering the facts and circumstances, and also taking into account the fact that majority of the accused persons were already released bail, a

lenient view can be taken in the matter. In the above circumstances, this petition is allowed subject to the following conditions.

It is also a relevant aspect to notice that, on account of the alarming situation prevailing in the State owing to wide spread of COVID-19 Pandemic,

the Government is taking measures to de- congest the prisons so as to enable the authorities concerned to maintain social distancing within the prisons.

As part of the said initiative, they have issued G.O(Rt)No.1311/2021/HOME dated 05/05/2021, directing the authorities concerned to grant parole to

eligible inmates of the Prisons in the State, subject to the compliance of Rule 397(L) of the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management)

Rules 2014. The Honourable Supreme Court also, vide order dated 7.05.2021 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No 1/2020 issued various directions for

minimizing the strength of inmates in prisons. In my view, the above aspects are also very much relevant while considering this bail application.

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

(i) The petitioner 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 petitioner shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m on every Wednesday until the filing of final report.

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.