Niyas vs State Of Kerala

Ziyad Rahman A.A., J

This is an application filed under Section 439 Cr.P.C. for regular bail.

The petitioner is the accused in Crime No.1387 of 2022 of Irinjalakuda Police Station. The offences alleged against the petitioner are under Sections 354(A)(1)(i), 354 B, 376, 420 and 506 IPC.

The allegation against the petitioner is that, on a day in the month of October, 2018, the accused who came to the house of the de facto complainant/victim, who is aged 42 years, committed rape on her and also threatened her stating that the same will be disclosed to the husband of the victim. It is also alleged that, by making the said threat, he illegally collected an amount of Rs.90,00,000/- from the victim. The crime was registered on 08.12.2022 after a period of four years of the commission of the crime. In connection with the investigation of the said crime, the petitioner was arrested on 14.12.2022, and since then, he has been under judicial custody.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is innocent of all the allegations. According to him, the petitioner and the victim had acquaintances for the past several years, and there were certain monetary transactions between the parties. In connection with the same, the petitioner caused to issue a legal notice against the victim on 01.04.2022, and the crime was registered after the said notice. It is also the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that, under no circumstances the offence under Section 376 IPC would get attracted.

On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor would oppose the said contention. According to the learned Public Prosecutor, the complaint contains specific details of the sexual assault committed upon the victim by the petitioner. Therefore, the release of the petitioner is likely to affect the investigation. A copy of the FIS and the statement of the victim recorded under Section 164 Cr.P.C. were also made available before this Court.

I have gone through the materials placed before me. The petitioner was arrested on 14.12.2022, and more than 50 days have elapsed since the date of his arrest. It is also to be noted that the crime was registered after four years of the commission of the crime. Even going by the statements of the victim, it is evident that, as pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the parties were known to each other for several years. In such circumstances, taking note of the period of detention the petitioner had undergone and other relevant inputs, I deem it appropriate to pass an order to release the petitioner on bail. While taking this view, I have taken note of the fact that the investigation in this case has progressed substantially, and further incarceration of the petitioner appears to be not necessary.

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

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

(ii) The petitioner shall fully cooperate with the investigation.

(iii) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m. on every Monday until the filing of the final report.

(iv) The petitioner shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required by him.

(v) The petitioner shall not commit any offence of similar nature while on bail.

(vi) The petitioner shall not make any 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.

(vii) The petitioner shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

(viii) The petitioner shall surrender his passport before the jurisdictional court. If the petitioner does not have the passport, an affidavit to that effect shall be filed.

In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation of bail, if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.