Sajith.T.K vs State Of Kerala

Dr. Kauser Edappagath, J

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

The applicant is the accused in Crime No.114/2023 of Chokly Police Station, Kannur District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 448, 324, 354 of the IPC.

The prosecution case, in short, is that the applicant on 06/02/2023 at 5.30 AM trespassed into the house of the defacto complainant, assaulted her younger son, aged 23 years and when the defacto complainant intervened, he assaulted her as well and pulled the maxi worn by her with the intention to outrage her modesty and thereby committed the offence.

I have heard Sri.M.P.Priyesh Kumar, the learned counsel for the applicant, Sri. P.Sanjay, the learned counsel for the defacto complainant and Sri. C.S.Hrithwik, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. 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, he is entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and if he is released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

I went through the F.I.S. The only non-bailable offence alleged is under Section 354 of the IPC. There is nothing to attract the ingredients of Section 354 of the IPC in the FIS. The prosecution allegation is that the applicant trespassed into the house of the defacto complainant to assault her son and accordingly assaulted her son. When the defacto complainant intervened, the applicant assaulted her as well and further pulled her maxi. There is nothing to suggest that the said act was done by the applicant with intent to outrage her modesty. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the applicant has strong criminal antecedents and he is involved in ten cases. The learned Public Prosecutor further submitted that the weapon used for the commission of the offence has to be recovered. On the other hand the learned counsel for the applicant submitted that out of the ten cases, nine cases ended in acquittal. There is no record to show that in nine cases, he was acquitted. Still, in as much as the offence under Section 354 of the IPC is not attracted and the remaining offences are bailable in nature, the anticipatory bail cannot be denied to the applicant for the simple reason that he has criminal antecedents and weapon has not been recovered. Considering the allegations levelled against the applicant, his custodial interrogation does not appear to be necessary. For these reasons, it is a fit case where pre-arrest bail can be granted to the applicant.

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

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail in the event of his arrest 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 applicant shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(iii) The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. He 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 bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.