Kingsley Johnson Chkwuocha vs State Of Kerala

K.Babu, J

The petitioner, a Nigerian citizen, is accused No.1 in Crime No.11 of 2021 of Cyber Crime Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram. The offences alleged against the petitioner are punishable under Section 420 r/w Section 34 of Indian Penal Code and 66(D) of Information Technology Act, 2000.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thiruvananthapuram granted bail to the petitioner as per Annexure II order on the following conditions:-

i. The petitioner/accused shall execute a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- with two solvent sureties each for the likesum.

ii. Political agent or diplomatic agent of the country to which the petitioner belongs shall execute a bond for an amount of Rs.6,00,000/-.

iii. The petitioner/accused shall remain with the corporation of Thiruvananthapuram till the disposal of the case and he shall be under the strict supervision of the Foreign Registration Officer (Civil Authority in Thiruvananthapuram) within the meaning of Section 11 of Foreigners Order.

iv. The petitioner/accused shall specify his place of residence in Thiruvananthapuram district and Foreign Registration Officer is directed to restrict the movements of the petitioner and his association with any person or class of persons other than those specified by the Foreign Registration Officer.

v. Petitioner accused shall report before the Station House Officer within the jurisdiction where he notify to reside on all Sundays and Thursdays between 9 am and 11 am.

vi. Petitioner accused shall not tamper with the evidence or influence the witnesses.

vii. Petitioner accused shall make himself available for interrogation as and when required by the investigating officer.

viii. Petitioner/accused shall not involve in any offence while on bail.

The petitioner seeks modification of condition No.II in Annexure-II order.

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

It is contended that compliance of condition No.II is practically difficult as it is onerous. The purpose of imposing conditions while granting bail is to ensure the presence of the accused during investigation and trial in the case. Condition No.III extracted above is a necessary safeguard for the prosecution. Therefore, condition No.II in Annexure-II order is lifted.

It is further directed that the Investigating officer shall submit proper information to all the Airports in the country in the appropriate form directly or through appropriate agency regarding the details of the crime so as to prevent the petitioner leaving the country.