Manusankar vs State Of Kerala

Gopinath P., J

The petitioner is the accused in Crime No. 1018 of 2023 of Perumbavoor Police Station alleging the commission of offences under Sections 495, 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66E of the Information Technology Act. The prosecution case is that the petitioner married the defacto complainant on 12.03.2022 by suppressing the fact that the petitioner/accused had a subsisting marriage and thereafter he lived along with the defacto complainant. It is alleged that the petitioner had engaged in sexual relationships with the defacto complainant and had also taken her nude pictures and videos and threatened to publish the same.

The learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner has placed before me the certified copy of the First Information Statement given by the defacto complainant which, according to him shows that the relationship between the petitioner and the defacto complainant was purely consensual. It is submitted that even in the FIR itself, it is clearly stated that the petitioner got married to the defacto complainant on 12.03.2022 and they lived together in a rented house at Perumbavoor as husband and wife till 25.06.2023. It is submitted that the allegation that the petitioner threatened the defacto complainant that he would publish her nude photographs etc., is nothing but an attempt to foister a false case on the petitioner. It is submitted that the petitioner was arrested on 09.08.2023 and further detention of the petitioner is not necessary in the facts and circumstances of the case.

The learned Public Prosecutor, on instruction, would submit that even if the case of the petitioner that he was in a consensual relationship is to be accepted, it according to the defacto complainant the petitioner had threatened to publish her nude pictures and videos. It is also pointed out that according to the defacto complainant, the petitioner had entered into a marriage with her after informing her that his earlier marriage had been dissolved and he had thereafter compelled the defacto complainant to enter into a sexual relationship by falsely projecting himself as an unmarried person. It is submitted that the act of the petitioner is clearly illegal.

Having heard the learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor and having perused the First Information Statement of the defacto complainant I am of the view that the petitioner can be released on bail. As rightly pointed out by the learned Counsel for the petitioner, a reading of the FIS shows that the petitioner and the defacto complainant were living together as husband and wife in a rented house at Perumbavoor from 12.03.2022 till 25.06.2023 and they had a sexual relationship during the said period. It is also clear from the FI Statement that according to the defacto complainant, the marriage of the petitioner and the defacto complainant had been solemnized on 12.03.2022 and they were living together as husband and wife in a rented house at Perumbavoor. Another allegation against the petitioner is that he had threatened the defacto complainant stating that he would circulate her nude pictures and videos. The petitioner has been in custody from 09.08.2023. In the totality of the circumstances of the case, I am of the opinion that the petitioner can be granted bail subject to conditions.

In the result this bail application is allowed. It is directed that the petitioner shall be released on bail, subject to the following 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 report before the Investigating officer in Crime No.1018/2023 of Perumbavoor Police Station on every Saturday at 11 a.m till filing of the final report;

(iii) The petitioner shall not interfere with the investigation, influence or intimidate the victim or any witness in Crime No.1018/2023 of Perumbavoor Police Station;

(iv) The petitioner shall not involve in any other crime while on bail.

If any of the aforesaid conditions are violated, the Investigating officer in Crime No.1018/2023 of Perumbavoor Police Station may file an application before the jurisdictional Court for cancellation of bail. The observations in this order are only for the purpose of considering the entitlement of bail, and shall not prejudice the petitioner in any manner.