Cheriyan Thomas vs State Of Kerala

Dr. Kauser Edappagath, J

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

The applicants are the accused Nos.1 to 4 in Crime No.56/2023 of Puthukkadu Police Station. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 341, 294(b), 506, 323, 354 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

The prosecution case, in short, is that on 16.01.2023 at about 10.30 p.m. at the courtyard of the house of the defacto complainant, while a talk in respect of the disputes between the accused No.3 and the son of the defacto complainant was going on, the accused No.2 wrongfully restrained the defacto complainant and hit on her chest by uttering obscene words and the accused No.3 uttered obscene words and pushed down the defacto complainant. Both accused assaulted the son of the defacto complainant and the accused No.1 outraged the modesty of the defacto complainant by tearing off her dress and thereby committed the above said offences.

I have heard Sri. M.Shaju Purushothaman, the learned counsel for the applicants and Sri.C.S.Hrithwik, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicants with the alleged crime; hence, they are entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicants, and if they are released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

The defacto complainant is the mother-in-law of the accused No.3. There are some disputes between the accused No.3 and her husband. The alleged incident occurred while a mediation in respect of the said dispute was going on. The only non bailable offence alleged against the applicants is under Section 354 of the IPC. Specific overt act has been alleged against each accused. There is no allegation against the accused Nos.2 to 4 regarding Section 354 of IPC. The allegation against the accused No.1 is that during the scuffle, she torn the dress of the defacto complainant. There is nothing to suggest that the said act has been done with an intention to outrage her modesty. The applicants have no criminal antecedents. The investigation is in the preliminary stage. Considering the allegations levelled against the applicants, their custodial interrogation does not appear to be necessary. For these reasons, it is a fit case where pre-arrest bail can be granted to the applicants.

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

(i) The applicants shall be released on bail in the event of their arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) each 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 applicants shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting themselves to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

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

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

(v) The applicants 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 applicants shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

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