Nithin Binoy vs State Of Kerala

Shircy V, J

The petitioner, who is the 7th accused in Crime No. 1356 of 2021 of Aluva East Police Station registered for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 144, 147, 148, 341, 342, 323, 324, 109, 212, 427 and 307 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, has moved this application with a request for his release on bail.

The prosecution allegation is that this petitioner along with the other accused procured the presence of the defacto complainant at the place of occurrence and accused Nos. 1 to 6 have formed themselves into an unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons with the common object to attack him, wrongfully restrained him and inflicted blows on his head with a wooden stick with the intention to cause murder. They have also sprayed pepper powder towards the defacto complainant when he tried to escape from the clutches of the accused and thereby this petitioner and the other accused have committed the aforesaid offences.

The petitioner has been in custody since 07.07.2021.

The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that he has been falsely implicated by the defacto complainant, who is his neighbour, to put him behind bars to wreck vengeance upon him. In fact, there is no reference about the name of this petitioner by the defacto complainant in his FIS. This petitioner has absolutely no participation in the incident as alleged by the prosecution. Still, he is undergoing incarceration for the last about two months.

According to the learned Public Prosecutor, though there was no reference about the complicity of this petitioner in the alleged crime, in the statement given by the defacto complainant, on investigation, his role was revealed. Now the investigation is only in progress. The 1st accused is a habitual offender involved in more than 20 cases and this petitioner is also having criminal antecedents. But it is to be noted that the investigation has progressed considerably. Therefore, considering the period of detention undergone by him in judicial custody, the present stage of investigation and the other facts and circumstances involved in this case, I am inclined to release him on bail.

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

(i) The petitioner shall be released on bail on his executing a bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the court having jurisdiction.

(ii) The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer for interrogation as and when required by him, in writing.

(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.