Sudheesh vs State Of Kerala

Dr. Kauser Edappagath, J

This application is filed under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking pre-arrest bail.

The applicant is the accused No.4 in Crime No.740/2023 of Chalissery Police Station, Palakkad. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 341, 324 and 308 read with 34 of IPC.

The prosecution case, in short, is that on 25.8.2023 at about 6.30 pm, an altercation took place at Chalissery main road in connection with parking of a vehicle and the accused No.1 pushed the victim and beat him with a wooden reaper. The accused No.2 hit him with a stone, the accused No.3 beat him with another reaper and thereby committed the offences.

I have heard Sri.P.K. Mohanan., the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri. C.K. Suresh, the learned 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.

The allegation in the FIR shows that the incident was not the result of a pre-meditated act. The incident happened when the defacto complainant intervened in the altercation between the accused and one Santhosh. The wound certificate would show that the defacto complainant sustained lacerated wound on his head. Going by the FIS, it was the accused No.1 who beat on the head of the defacto complainant with a wooden reaper. The applicant has not been named in the FIS. No serious overt act has been alleged against him in the final report. The FIS was lodged after two days of the incident. The accused Nos. 2 and 5 were already granted anticipatory bail by this Court. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted that there are criminal antecedents against the applicant. He pointed out the details of five crimes pending against the applicant. On a perusal of the same, it is seen that all those cases are bailable in nature. 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.