Firos K T vs State Of Kerala

Ziyad Rahman A.A, J

This is an application filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail.

The petitioner is the 3rd accused in Crime No.435/2023 of Valanchery Police Station, Malappuram District, which was registered for the offences alleged against the petitioner and other accused are under Section 22(b) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

The prosecution case is that, on 04.05.2023 at 11.05 p.m., the 1st and 2nd accused were found in possession of 4.05 grams of MDMA, at Oniyampalam police Station. During the course of investigation, it was revealed that the contraband articles were supplied by the petitioner after collecting an amount of Rs.30,000/- through Google Pay. On verification of the bank account submitted by the petitioner, the said transaction was confirmed. Accordingly, the petitioner was arrested on 05.05.2023, and since then, he has been in judicial custody. This application for regular bail is submitted in such circumstances.

Heard Sri. Vijai Mathews, the learned Counsel for the petitioner and Smt. Sreeja V, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor for the state.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he is innocent of all the allegations and was falsely implicated in the said case. He is prepared to abide by any conditions that may be imposed by this Court. It is further pointed out that he has been in custody for the past 60 days, and other accused Nos. 1 and 2 were already released on bail as per order passed by this Court in BA No. 4716 of 2023.

On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor would oppose the application for bail. It is pointed out that there are ample materials indicating the role of the petitioner, and the matter is under investigation. Therefore, dismissal of the bail application was sought..

I have gone through the records and heard the contentions raised from both sides. It is true that there are allegations against the petitioner, and the matter is under investigation. But, the fact remains that the petitioner has been in custody since 05.05.2023, and the petitioner was not involved in any other criminal cases as well. The quantity involved is not coming under the category of intermediate quantity. In such circumstances, I do not find any fruitful purpose in keeping the petitioner under detention in the case. Therefore, the petitioner can be granted bail by imposing appropriate conditions to ensure that the petitioner is co-operating with investigation and trial.

In the result, the bail application is allowed, and the petitioner is directed to be released on bail subject to the following conditions;

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

2) The petitioner shall surrender his passport before the jurisdictional court. If the petitioner does not have the passport, an affidavit to that effect shall be filed.

3) The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m every Saturday until the filing of the final report.

4) The petitioner shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required by him.

5) The petitioner shall not commit any offence of similar nature while on bail.

6) The petitioner shall not make any 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.

7) The petitioner shall not leave India without the permission of the trial Court.

In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional Magistrate shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation of bail, if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.