Jomon vs State Of Kerala And Ors

Application for pre-arrest bail.

The petitioner is the sole accused in Crime No.63/2021 of Pathanapuram Police Station, Kollam registered for the offences punishable under Sections 451,511,376,354,354A of the Indian Penal Code.

The prosecution allegation is that on 8.1.2021 at about 1.30 a.m the petitioner trespassed into the residential house of the defacto complainant and outraged her modesty and attempted to commit rape on her and thereby committed the aforesaid offences.

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the defacto complainant is a nurse by profession and she is employed in a government hospital at Palakkad. Her husband is employed abroad. She was having some illegal connection with a man in the neighbourhood and he used to visit his house quite often. That was objected by her neighbours and the defacto complainant was under the impression that this petitioner is the man behind the same. So she was entertaining enemity towards him. Just because of her enemity towards him he has been falsely implicated him in this case after 8 days of the alleged incident. In fact he is a young man aged only 24 years having no criminal antecedents and he is having absolutely no connection with the defacto complainant. In fact he never visited her house as alleged by the prosecution. But he apprehends unnecessary arrest and torture by the police. Hence, this application.

The learned Public Prosecutor has submitted that the investigation of the case is well in progress.

The FIR has been registered as per the records only on 16.1.2021. A perusal of the records especially the FI statement of the defacto complainant would show that she has not satisfactorily explained the reason for the delay in lodging the complaint though it was alleged that the incident has happened on 8.1.2021.

Since the investigation of the case is well in progress I do not find that custodial interrogation of this petitioner is quite necessary for the Investigating Agency to proceed with the investigation of the case.

Considering the entire facts involved in this case, the present stage of investigation and the nature of the allegations levelled against this petitioner I think that his request for pre-arrest bail can be granted subject to the following conditions:

Therefore, this application is allowed subject to the following conditions:

(i) The petitioner shall be released on bail on executing bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000- (Rupees one lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each in the event of arrest by the police in connection with the above crime.

(ii) The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer for interrogation as and when required by him in writing. He shall co-operate with the investigation of the case.

(iii) The petitioner shall not directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.

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

In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the learned Magistrate is empowered to cancel the bail in accordance with the law.