Rajesh P.R vs State Of Kerala

Dr. Kauser Edappagath, J

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

The applicants are the accused Nos. 2 and 3 in Crime No.269/2023 of Aluva Police Station. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 34 of the IPC and Section 7(a) and (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The crime was initially registered under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 34 of the IPC against the accused Nos. 1 to 4 at the instance of one Mr. Sirajudheen, the husband's brother of the accused No.1, with the allegation that with intention to cheat the defacto complainant and thereby derive undue enrichment, the accused Nos. 1 to 4 obtained a false Legal Heirship Certificate of the late husband of the accused No.1 from the Tahsildar, Aluva, by submitting false certificate fraudulently signed by accused Nos. 2 and 3 showing the mother and sister of the defacto complainant who were actually alive as dead and submitted the same to the employer of the husband of the accused No.1 and obtained service benefits of ₹50,00,000/- and also attempted to transfer the Post Office registration of APM Communications which was in the name of the husband of the accused No.1 and the accused No.4 extended all help to the accused No.1. During investigation, the Village Officer who gave report to the Tahsildar to issue the Legal Heirship Certificate was arrayed as the accused No.5 and Section 7(a) and (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act also has been added.

I have heard, Sri. C.Y. Vinod Kumar, the learned counsel for the applicants and Smt. S. Rekha, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicants with the alleged crime; hence, they are 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 applicants, and if they are released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

The accused No.1 admitted that her husband's mother was alive when the application was submitted by her to issue Legal Heirship Certificate of her deceased husband. However, in the application she has stated that that her husband's mother was no more. According to her, she is a Tamil lady and on account of some mistake she happened to state in her application for issuance of the Legal Heirship Certificate that her mother-in-law was no more. Pursuant to her petition, a hearing was convened by the Tahsildar on 15.2.2023. She noticed in the hearing that she mistakenly shown her mother-in-law as no more in her application. On that day itself, she preferred a petition to the Tahsildar stating that it was only an error. Thereafter, on 24.2.2023, the Legal Heirship Certificate issued was cancelled. The FIR was registered thereafter. The only allegation against the applicants is that, they stood as witnesses in the application for issuance of Legal Heirship Certificate. This Court has already granted anticipatory bail to the accused Nos. 1 and 4. Considering the allegations levelled against the applicants, their custodial interrogation does not appear to be necessary. For these reasons, pre-arrest bail can be granted to the applicants.

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

(i) The applicants shall be released on bail in the event of their arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) each 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 applicants shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting themselves to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(iii) The applicants shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. They shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.

(iv) The applicants shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.

(v) The applicants 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 applicants 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.