Reena.N vs State Of Kerala

Dr. Kauser Edappagath, J

This application is filed u/s 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail.

The applicant is the accused No.2 in Crime No.VC-07/2023/KLM of VACB, Kollam. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code. She was working as Sub-Registrar Officer, Kundara

The prosecution case, in short, is that, on 13.6.2023, the applicant along with the accused No.1, who is working as Attendant in the very same office demanded and obtained bribe of ₹4,000/- from the defacto complainant for registering the document submitted by him and thereby committed the offence.

I have heard Sri. B. Raman Pillai, the learned Senior Counsel for the applicant and Sri. A. Rajesh, the learned Special Public Prosecutor for VACB. Perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, she is entitled to get bail. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and she is not entitled to bail at this stage.

The applicant was arrested on 13.6.2023. Since then, she is in judicial custody. The investigation of the case is almost over. Even according to the prosecution case, the alleged bribe money was not recovered from the possession of the applicant. The applicant has no criminal antecedents. For all these reasons, I do not find any reason to hold that the continued detention of the applicant is required for any purpose. Hence, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail.

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

(i) The applicant 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 jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.

(ii) The applicant shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. She shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.

(iv) The applicant shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.

(v) The applicant shall not 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.

(vi) The applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

(vii) The application, if any, for deletion/modification of the bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.