Irshad.P.M vs State Of Kerala

Ashok Menon, J

This is an application for regular bail under Section 439 of the Cr.P.C.

The applicants are accused 1 to 3 in Crime No.1414/2020 of Hosdurg Police Station, which was subsequently transferred to the Crime Branch,

Kannur, as Crime No.323/CB/KNR for having allegedly committed the offences punishable under Sections 341, 324 and 302 read with Section 34 of

the I.P.C.

The prosecution case, in brief, is that between 22.05 hours and 22.20 hours on 23.12.2020, while the de facto complainant and his friends Abdul

Rehman, Raheem and Aslam, all members of the LDF, were going to Bava Nagar on two motorcycles, due to political rivalry that the accused

persons had towards the deceased and his friends, in furtherance of common intention, wrongfully restrained them and attacked them. The 1st

accused allegedly stabbed the deceased with a knife, causing a penetrating wound which proved to be fatal, and he succumbed to it. The friends of

the deceased were also assaulted by the remaining accused with dangerous weapons like reapers. The applicants were all arrested on 25.12.2020 and

have been in judicial custody since then. The investigation has been completed and the final report filed. The committal proceedings are over, but the

case is yet to be taken on the files of the Sessions court for trial.

The applicants state that the allegations are not true, they are all youngsters hailing from respectable families and that they are willing to cooperate

with the investigation. Recovery of material object and the investigation are complete, and therefore, there is no point in further incarceration of the

applicants, state the learned Counsel for the applicants. They are not likely to flee from justice as they have a permanent place of abode.

Heard the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the applicants Sri.P.Vijayabhanu and Special Public Prosecutor Sri.Nicholas

Joseph appearing for the State.

The post-mortem report would indicate that the deceased died due to a single stab injury which was allegedly caused by the 1st accused. The

learned Special Prosecutor points out that the applicants have all criminal antecedents, particularly, the 1st accused, who is the main perpetrator of the

crime, has five cases registered against him. Moreover, there is another Crime No.350/2019 in which all the three applicants are arraigned as

accused. All the crimes, which were registered against the applicants and has been pointed out as criminal antecedents of the applicants, are for

bailable offences and no grave crime has so far been registered against the applicants, except the present one. The applicants have been in custody

for a fairly long time. There are about 101 witnesses to be examined. Even if some of them are excluded, there is a long list of witnesses to be

examined, which is likely to consume much time of the Court. Even after the committal proceedings, the case has not been taken on the file of the

Sessions Court, and there is therefore every likelihood that the trial being protracted. The learned Special Prosecutor has expressed his apprehension

that being a politically motivated case, there is every possibility of a backlash if the applicants are released on bail, and there is a threat to their life too.

Considering these circumstances, it is pointed out that the application for bail may be dismissed and the applicants may be subjected to custodial trial.

Considering the entire facts and circumstances of this case and the arguments advanced by both sides, I find that the applicants do not have any

grave criminal antecedents. They belong to a political party and the deceased and other injured belong to a rival party. There have been political

rivalries, which led to the alleged incident. The murder cannot be described as brutal or diabolic, because there is only one fatal injury sustained by the

deceased and that too was inflicted only by the 1st accused. The weapons have been recovered and hence I do not find any reason for the custodial

trial of the applicants. The anxiety of the learned Special Prosecutor that there may be backlash can be addressed by imposing stringent conditions,

and therefore, I find that the applicants are entitled to bail.

As a result, the bail application is allowed and the applicants are directed to be released on bail on the execution of a bond for Rs.50,000/- (Rupees

fifty thousand only) each with two solvent sureties each for the like amount to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court, on the following other

conditions:

i)The applicants shall not enter the Kasaragod District during the period of the trial until the prime witnesses in the case are examined by the trial court. once the

prime witnesses are examined, the applicants are at liberty to get this condition relaxed by approaching the trial Court;

ii) They shall appear for trial without fail, unless specifically exempted from personal appearance by the trial Court;

iii) They shall not attempt to influence or intimidate the witnesses; and

iv) iii) They shall not get involved in similar offences during the currency of the bail.

In case of breach of any of the bail conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to apply for cancellation of the bail before the jurisdictional Court.