Shaheer P vs State Of Kerala

This petition is filed under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The petitioner herein is the 3rd accused in Crime No. 111 of 2018 of the Kuthuparamba Police Station, registered under Sections 341, 323, 324, 354, 506, 294 r/w. Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

The 1st accused, in the instant Crime, is the husband of the de facto complainant. Their marital relationship had turned sour which led to the institution of various proceedings against each other. While so, on 2.2.2018 at 5.15 pm, while the de facto complainant along with her brother were travelling in their car, the accused Nos. 1 and 2 and the petitioner herein are alleged to have intercepted the car and, after pulling out the de facto complainant and her brother, assaulted them with iron rods.

The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the accused Nos. 1 and 2 have been granted an order of anticipatory bail by another Bench of this Court by order dated 9.3.2018 in B.A. No.1467 of 2018. By a separate order, the 4th accused has also been granted anticipatory bail. The role attributed to the petitioner is quite minor is the submission.

I have heard the learned Public Prosecutor and have gone through the case diary.

Though the petitioner cannot be granted anticipatory bail on the ground of parity alone, I am of the view that the role attributed to the petitioner is quite minor when compared to the other accused. It has been observed in the order granting bail to accused Nos. 1 and 2 that the weapons of offences have been recovered. In that view of the matter, I am of the considered view that the custodial interrogation of the petitioner is not necessitous for an effective investigation.

In the result, this petition is allowed. However, it shall be subject to the following conditions.

i).The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer within ten days from today and shall undergo interrogation. Thereafter, if he is proposed to be arrested, he shall be released on bail on his executing a bond for a sum of Rs.40,000/- (Rupees forty thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum.

ii)The petitioner shall co-operate with the investigation and shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when directed.

iii)The petitioner shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer.

iv)The petitioner shall not commit any similar offence while on bail.

In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional Court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation, if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.