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Judgment
This application is filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, seeking pre-arrest bail.
The applicant is the accused No.3 in Crime No.780/2026 of Vanchiyoor Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram District. The offences alleged are punishable under Section 12 read with 11(iii)(iv) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Sections 351 read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The prosecution case, in short, is that the victim is a minor girl aged 14 years. She is studying in 8th standard. The Child in Conflict with Law and the victim became acquainted through Instagram and they frequently communicated with each other on the platform. Subsequently, the mother of the Child in Conflict with Law warned the victim against maintaining a relationship with him, following which the victim blocked him on Instagram. Thereafter, they resumed communication through Snapchat. It is alleged that the Child in Conflict with Law threatened the victim that he would leak her photographs on Snapchat. It is further alleged that the accused No.2, who is a friend of the Child in Conflict with Law sent obscene photographs and messages to the victim through WhatsApp. It is also alleged that another friend of the Child in Conflict with Law, the applicant herein, threatened the victim that her photographs would be circulated through Telegram and thereby committed the aforesaid offences.
I have heard Sri. P.Rakesh Thamban, the learned counsel for the applicant and Smt. Aneeda Beegum, 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 above crime. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. The learned Senior Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the applicant's intentional criminal acts, and if he is released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.
The applicant is a boy aged 18 years, who has no criminal antecedents. I went through the FIS. The main allegation is against the accused No.1. The only allegation against the applicant is that he threatened the victim that he would circulate photographs of the victim through social media. Considering the allegations made against the applicant, his custodial interrogation seems unnecessary. For these reasons, I find this to be an appropriate case to grant pre-arrest bail to the applicant.
In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions:-
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.
The applicant shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.
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.
The applicant shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.
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.
The applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.
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.