Padmanabhan vs State Of Kerala

Application for regular bail under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. The applicant is the sole accused in Crime No.70/2020 of Hosdurg Excise Range, Kasargod for having allegedly committed offence punishable under Section 55(g) of the Kerala Abkari Act.

The prosecution case, in brief, is that on 08.04.2020 at about 6.16 p.m., the applicant was intercepted by the Excise officials and he was found to be in possession of 50 litres of wash intended for the purpose of distilling illicit arrack. He was arrested and remanded to judicial custody and continues in remand.

The applicant states that he is innocent and the allegations are not true and that he has no criminal antecedents. Hence, he may be released on bail.

Heard the learned counsel for the applicant and the learned Public Prosecutor.

The applicant has no criminal antecedents as admitted by the learned Public Prosecutor. Considering this fact and the present pandemic situation, I find that further detention of the applicant may not be necessary. Hence, the Bail Application is allowed and the applicant is directed to be released on bail on execution of 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 and on following conditions:-

(i) He shall not get involved in similar cases during the currency of the bail.

(ii) He shall appear before the investigating officer as and when called for.

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

In case of violation of the bail conditions, the prosecution is at liberty to move for cancellation of the bail before the jurisdictional court.