Sumesh vs State Of Kerala And Ors

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

The petitioner is the sole accused in Crime No.396/2021 of the Palakkad Town South Police Station. The offences alleged against the petitioner are

punishable under Sections 341, 323 and 326 of the Indian Penal Code.

The prosecution case in short is that on 20.04.2021, at around 12.30 p.m., since the defacto complainant required the petitioner to hand over the firm

which is being managed by the petitioner namely “Gayathri Associatesâ€, attacked the defacto complainant with a chair and thereby caused injury

to the defacto complainant. The aforesaid crime was registered in the above circumstances.

The defacto complainant who is none other than the brother of the petitioner filed an application to get himself impleaded and also filed a counter

affidavit denying the averments made by the petitioner. According to the defacto complainant, he is a sales tax practitioner and was running an

establishment namely “Gayathri Associates†in the room, where the incident had occurred. In the year 2010, he went abroad and he entrusted the

office to the petitioner for managing the same. Later, when he came back, it is contended that, the defacto complainant refused to hand over the same

and the dispute has arisen in connection with the same. It is stated by him that, on the basis of a settlement arrived between the parties in the presence

of other members of the family, he was called upon to the office by the petitioner and upon reaching the office, the defacto complainant attacked him

and caused injuries.

After examining all the materials available on record, it can be seen that evidently there is a dispute with regard to the management of the office

between the two brothers. Both parties are making claims against each other. It is also evident that these claims and disputes resulted in the incident.

Going by the averments of the defacto complainant itself, it can be seen that, the management of the office was entrusted with the petitioner. In the

above circumstances, this Court is of the view that, all these claims are basically civil in nature and the same has to be agitated before the appropriate

civil court. With regard to the incident which is the subject matter of this case, it is true that some injuries of serious nature were sustained by the

defacto complainant. This Court is of the view that the circumstances under which the alleged incident happened and all the other relevant aspects

have to be found out in a detailed investigation to be conducted by the Police. Therefore, emphasis should be given to a proper investigation for which

the appearance of the petitioner before the Investigating Officer and his co-operation to be ensured. Therefore, this Court is of the view that interest

of justice would be served, if the petitioner is directed to surrender before the Investigating Officer and to cooperate with investigation in the proper

manner. While arriving this decision, this Court has also taken into consideration the alarming situation now prevailing in the State due to Covid-19

pandemic and also the steps that are being taken by the Government to de-congest the prisons.

It is also a relevant aspect to notice that, on account of the alarming situation prevailing in the State owing to wide spread of COVID-19 Pandemic,

the Government is taking measures to de-congest the prisons so as to enable the authorities concerned to maintain social distancing within the prisons.

As part of the said initiative, they have issued G.O(Rt)No.1311/2021/HOME dated 05/05/2021, directing the authorities concerned to grant parole to

eligible inmates of the Prisons in the State, subject to the compliance of Rule 397(L) of the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management)

Rules 2014. The Honourable Supreme Court also, vide order dated 7.05.2021 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (C) No 1/2020 issued various directions for

minimizing the strength of inmates in prisons. In my view, the above aspects are also very much relevant while considering this bail application.

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

(i) The petitioner shall surrender before the Investigating officer, within a period of two weeks from today, for subjecting himself for interrogation.

However, while computing the period as mentioned above, the period of lock down, if any, declared by the Government owing to COVID-19

pandemic can be excluded.

(ii) After interrogation, the petitioner shall be released on bail, on the very same day of surrender upon the petitioner executing a bond for Rs

1,00,000/- with two solvent sureties each for the like sum, to the satisfaction of the investigating officer

(iii) 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.

(iv) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m on every Wednesday until further orders. However,

this condition shall stand suspended during the period of lock down declared by the Government owing to COVID-19 pandemic.

(v) The petitioner shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required by him.

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

(vii) 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.

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