Omkar Sanjay Chatharwad vs State Of Kerala

The applicant is the 3rd accused in Crime No.599 of 2020 of Manjeri Police Station, Malappuram, for having allegedly committed offences punishable under Sections 379, 465, 468, 471, 120(B) read with Section 34 of the IPC and under Sections 43, 66(C), 66(D), 70(3), 72 of the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008. The prosecution case, in brief, is this:

The applicant had in furtherance of common intention with the other two co-accused, conspired to hack accounts of gullible persons and the defacto complainant, a District Judge, in service was also similarly cheated by the applicant and the others and a total sum of Rs.1,02,696/- was siphoned from his account after hacking his Internet ID and password and the applicant thus committed the offence. The applicant states that he is innocent and the allegations are not true. He is an engineering student and he is only 19 years of age and hails from a very poor family and has been made a scapegoat by the other co-accused and he also has no criminal antecedents and he was arrested on 06.02.2021 and has been in custody since then. No purpose would be served by further incarceration of the applicant. Accused Nos. 1 and 2 have already been granted bail from this Court. And, therefore, he seeks bail.

Heard the learned counsel appearing for the applicant and the learned Public Prosecutor. The learned Public Prosecutor submits that the investigation has been completed and the final report has already been filed. The applicant admittedly has no criminal antecedents. And, therefore, further detention of the applicant may not be necessary. He is willing to comply with any conditions that may be imposed. Since the applicant belongs to Maharastra, stringent conditions have to be imposed for releasing him on bail.

In the result, the application is allowed and the applicant is directed to be released on bail on the execution of a bond for Rs.1,00,000/-(Rupees One lakh only), with two solvent sureties, each for the like amount to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court. Deposit of the amount in cash as security shall be accepted in the case where the sureties are from outside the State. In case, the sureties are from the State of Kerala and on following further conditions:

(i) He shall deposit a sum of Rs.1,05,000/- as cash security before the jurisdictional court and it has to be disbursed by the trial court at the conclusion of the trial.

(ii) He shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when called for.

(iii) He shall not intimidate or influence witnesses and tamper with evidence.

(iv) He shall not get involved in similar offences during the currency of the bail period.

In case of breach of any of the bail conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to apply for cancellation of the bail before the jurisdictional court.

The bail application is allowed.