Arun S vs State Of Kerala

Viju Abraham, J.

This is an application for regular bail.

Petitioner is the 2nd accused in Crime No.975 of 2022 of Vadakkancherry Police Station, Palakkad District registered alleging commission of offences punishable under Sections 337, 338, 304, 109 and Section 212 of IPC.

The prosecution case is as follows: Petitioner is the owner of the tourist bus bearing Reg.No.KL 05 AU 8890. On 5.10.2022 at 22.30 hours 2nd accused drove the vehicle through Thrissur Palakkad national highway from Thrissur Palakkad in a rash and negligent manner with the knowledge that his act will cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death of a human being and crashed on the rear side of a bus bearing Reg.No.KL 15 A 1313 and resulted in the death of 6 students in the tourist bus and 3 persons in the other bus. According to the prosecution, being the owner of the vehicle though petitioner has received alert messages in his mobile phone saying that the vehicle is being plied exceeding the speed limit, but he failed to warn the 1st accused driver to reduce the speed and thereby abetted the commission of the offences. It is also alleged that petitioner has helped the 1st accused to escape from the place of the alleged incident and harbored him and thereby committed the above said offences.

Petitioner submits that he was arrested on 06.10.2022 and his further detention is not required for the purpose of the investigation. The petitioner has been interrogated by the investigating agency, and he undertakes that he shall fully cooperate with the investigation.

Learned Public Prosecutor seriously opposed the application for bail mainly contending that the 1st accused who is the driver of the tourist bus bearing Registration No. KL 05-AU-8890 owned by the petitioner herein drove the vehicle at high speed in a rash and negligent manner, and it crashed on the rear side of a KSRTC bus bearing Registration No. KL 15 A 1313 and in the alleged incident 9 persons lost their life. The petitioner received overspeed warning messages several times from the Motor Vehicle Department and did not even try to warn the driver regarding the same, and after the accident has occurred, he helped the 1st accused to abscond without being apprehended by the police. The investigation also revealed that there were several unauthorized and illegal alterations to the vehicle including speed governor tampering, dancing lights, laser lights, sub-woofer, stickers, fogger, etc. The learned public prosecutor further submits that the petitioner has no other criminal antecedents.

The petitioner is in custody from 06.10.2022 onwards, and he has been interrogated by the investigating agency. Petitioner undertakes that he shall fully cooperate with the investigation. It is also reported that the petitioner has no other criminal antecedents. Taking into consideration the detention of the petitioner from 06.10.2022 onwards and also that he has no other criminal antecedents, I am inclined to grant bail to the petitioner but only on stringent conditions:

(i) The petitioner shall execute a bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like-sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court;

(ii) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer in Crime No.975/2022 of Vadakkancherry Police Station, Palakkad District every Saturday at 11 a.m. until the final report is filed;

(iii) The petitioner shall fully cooperate with the investigation and shall appear before the investigation officer in Crime No.975/2022 of Vadakkancherry Police Station, Palakkad District as and when required;

(iv) The petitioner shall not attempt to interfere with the investigation or to influence or intimidate the defacto complainant or any witness in Crime No.975/2022 of Vadakkancherry Police Station, Palakkad District;

(v) The petitioner shall not involve in any other crime while on bail;

(vi) The petitioner shall not leave the State without obtaining prior permission from the jurisdictional Court;

(vii) The petitioner shall surrender his passport before the jurisdictional court. If the petitioner does not have a passport, he shall execute an affidavit to that effect and file the same before the said court within seven days of release on bail;

If any of the aforesaid conditions are violated, the investigating officer in Crime No.975/2022 of Vadakkancherry Police Station, Palakkad District may file an application before the jurisdictional court, for cancellation of bail.