Narayanan. S vs State Of Kerala

Dr.Kauser Edappagath, J

This application is filed u/s 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking pre-arrest bail.

The applicant is the accused No.2 in Crime No.VC-02/2023/V&ACB SIU-II, Thiruvananthapuram. The offences alleged are punishable under Section 7(b)(1)(i) of Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 120B and 34 of IPC.

The prosecution case, in short, is as follows:- The applicant and the accused No.1 are the public servants. The accused No.1 was the investigating officer in VC/6/2015/SCT, which was a crime registered against the applicant. The accused No.1 after a detailed investigation, filed a refer report on 12.02.2021 as mistake of fact. The report was accepted by the court and the case was closed. The prosecution alleges that the accused No.1 conspired with the applicant and with their common intention and ulterior motive referred the above case with the malafide intention to save the applicant from the clutches of law. It is further alleged that the applicant deposited an amount of Rs.50,000/-on 30.09.2021 in the Savings Bank account maintained in the name of the son of the accused No.1 at Federal Bank, Kazhakkoottam Branch, which according to the prosecution is the gratification money paid by the applicant for referring the case against him.

I have heard Sri.Babu Paul, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.A.Rajesh, the learned Special Public Prosecutor for VACB. Perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and if he is released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

A perusal of the records would show that the refer report in VC/6/2015/SCT was submitted on 12.02.2021 whereas the alleged deposit was made in the account of the son of the petitioner on 30.09.2021. After hearing both sides, I am of the view that pre-arrest bail can be granted to the applicant on condition among other things that he will be made available for deemed custody.

In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions:-

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail in the event of his arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the arresting officer/investigating officer, as the case may be.

(ii) The applicant shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(iii) The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. He shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.

(iv) The applicant shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.

(v) The applicant shall not 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.

(vi) The applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

(vii) The application, if any, for deletion/modification of bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.