K.M. Abdul Rasheed vs State of Kerala

K. Ramakrishnan, J.—This Criminal Miscellaneous Case is filed by the petitioner who is the accused in L.P. No. 01/2006 on the file of the Additional District and Sessions Court, Neyyattinkara, to issue direction to the Magistrate u/s 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The case of the petitioner in the petition is that he is the accused in Crime No. 6/1999 of Amaravila Excise Range, u/s 55(a) of Abkari Act. It is alleged in the petition that petitioner was the owner of a vehicle which was given on rent and it was seized for transporting illicit liquor and the petitioner was arrayed as accused and he was arrested in 1999 and later, he was released on bail. Thereafter, he received summons in the committal proceedings and he appeared in committal proceedings as C.P. No. 370/2000. The case was committed to Sessions Court for trial and it was numbered as S.C. No. 1843/2001. The petitioner appeared in the Sessions Court and he was released on bail. Later, he did not appear and so his bail was cancelled and the Sessions Court issued non bailable warrant. The court below, after continuous issuance of warrant against the petitioner, has transferred the above said case to register of long pending cases and it is now pending as L.P. No. 01/2006 before that court. Though the petitioner is prepared to surrender, in view of the pendency of non bailable warrant against him, he apprehends that he is likely to be remanded and his bail application will not be considered on the date of filing of the application itself. So, the petitioner has no other remedy except to approach this Court seeking the following relief:

To direct the Addl. District and Sessions Court, Neyyattinkara to keep in abeyance the non bailable warrant (NBW) issued against the petitioner and this Hon''ble Court may grant 2 weeks time for the petitioner to surrender before the Court and direct that in the event of petitioner surrenders before the Court in L.P. No. 1 of 2006 pending before the Addl. District and Sessions Court, Neyyattinkara and applies for bail, with fresh sureties, to consider the applications as expeditiously as possible, on the date of surrender itself, and release him on bail, on fresh sureties, in the interest of justice and for ends of justice.

Considering the nature of relief claimed in the petition, this Court felt that the petition can be disposed of at the admission stage itself after hearing the Counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

Learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that his only apprehension is that if he surrenders, his bail application will not be considered on the same day and he will be remanded to custody.

The petition was opposed by the Public Prosecutor on the ground that the petitioner is an absconding accused.

It is an admitted fact that the petitioner is the accused in Crime No. 6/1999 of Amaravila Excise Range, u/s 55(a) of Abkari Act. The petitioner earlier appeared and released on bail. Since the petitioner did not appear, non bailable warrant has been issued from the Sessions Court and the court below has transferred the above said case to register of long pending cases as L.P. No. 01/2006 and now it is pending before that court. The apprehension of the petitioner that, if he surrenders before the court below and moves for bail, he will be remanded and his application will not be considered on the date of filing itself is not genuine and without any basis. This Court has time and again observed in several petitions of this nature that the Presiding Officers of the criminal courts are duty bound to dispose of the bail applications, if any, filed by the accused persons on their surrender on the date of filing of the application itself unless compelling circumstances warrant postponement of the same to a future date. So, in fact, there is no necessity to issue any direction as sought for in the petition. However, considering the apprehension expressed in the petition, this Court feels that the petition can be disposed of as follows:

If the petitioner surrenders before the Additional District and Sessions Court, Neyyattinkara and moves for recalling the warrant and for releasing him on bail in L.P. No. 01/2006 (Crime No. 6/99 of Amaravila Excise Range) now pending before that court, then, the learned Magistrate is directed to consider and dispose of the bail application after hearing the Additional Public Prosecutor of that court in accordance with law as far as possible on the date of filing of the application itself.

With the above direction and observation, the petition is disposed of.

Office is directed to communicate this order to the concerned court immediately.