P.G. Koshy Paniker vs State Of Kerala

Dr Kauser Edappagath, J

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

The petitioner is the 1st accused in Crime No.1827/2014 of Kundara Police Station. The offences alleged against the petitioner are punishable under Sections 420, 120(B), 465, 468, 471 r/w 34 of IPC and under Section 3 r/w 17 of the Kerala Money Lenders Act.

The prosecution case in short is as follows:

The de facto complainant availed a loan of Rs.1,00,000/-from a finance company run by the petitioner. At the time of said borrowal, the de facto complainant handed over four signed cheque leaves of her and a title deed of the property belonging to her parents as security. It is alleged that even though the entire loan amount with interest was repaid, the petitioner is still demanding Rs.3,50,000/- and did not return the signed cheque leaves or the title deeds handed over to him. Besides using the signed cheque leaves, the petitioner instituted two false prosecution against the de facto complainant under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. This is the sum and substance of the prosecution allegation against the petitioner.

Heard both sides and perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is absolutely innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submitted that there are no materials to connect the petitioner with the alleged crime and hence he is entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application. He contended that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the petitioner and if the petitioner is released on bail at this stage, it would affect the course of investigation.

Annexure 5 produced by the petitioner would show that he is a licensed money lender. Annexure 6 would show that the petitioner has instituted a private complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act against the de facto complainant. It is thereafter, the present crime was registered. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted that since there was a stay, the investigation could not be proceeded. However, now the investigation is going on. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the petitioner need to be interrogated. Taking into account the entire facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the view that the petitioner can be granted anticipatory bail on condition, among other things, that he has to appear before the investigating officer for interrogation continuously for four days. The petitioner shall also subject himself to deemed police custody, if necessary.

In the result, the application is allowed as follows:

(i) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer from 19.9.2022 to 22.9.2022 at 10.00 a.m. The investigating officer is free to interrogate him till 4 pm. giving adequate intervals. If the investigating officer arrests the petitioner, he shall be released on bail 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 petitioner shall fully co-operate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for the purpose of discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(iii) The petitioner shall not commit any offence of like nature while on bail.

(iv) The petitioner shall not make any attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.

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