Rojan Paul vs State Of Kerala

Dr.Kauser Edappagath, J

Both these applications are filed u/s 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure by the accused Nos.1 and 2 seeking regular bail. B.A.No.9797/2021 has

been filed by the 1st accused and B.A.No.9471/2021 has been filed by the 2nd accused.

The petitioners are the accused Nos.1 and 2 in Crime No.1515/2021 of Fort Kochi Police Station. The offences alleged are under Sections 341,

324, 506(ii) and 394 read with Section 34 IPC.

The prosecution case in short is that on 26.10.2021 at about 2.50 pm, the petitioners have committed robbery of Rs.1,000/- by boarding into a

service bus bearing registration No.KL-07-BB-9810 owned by the defacto complainant, which was parked at Fort Kochi private bus stand and the

petitioners together have wrongfully restrained the defacto complainant and the conductor of the bus and thereby committed the offence.

Heard both sides and perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners are absolutely innocent and they have been falsely implicated in the present

case. He further submitted that there are no materials to connect the petitioners with the alleged crime and hence they are entitled to get bail. The

learned Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application. She contended that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the

petitioners and if the petitioners are released on bail at this stage, it would affect the course of investigation.

Perusal of the case diary would reveal that prima facie there are materials on record to connect the petitioners with the crime. However, the

petitioner in B.A.No.9797/2021 was arrested on 29.11.2021 and the petitioner in B.A.No.9471/2021 was arrested on 29.10.2021. In view of the nature

of the crime and the stage of investigation, I do not find any reason to hold that the continued detention of the petitioners is required for any purpose.

The investigation seems to have reached a fair stage. For all these reasons, the petitioners are entitled to be released on bail on conditions.

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

(i) The petitioners shall be released on bail 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 jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.

(ii) The petitioners shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The petitioners shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m on every Saturday until further orders. The petitioners shall also

appear before the investigating officer as and when required by him.

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

(v) The petitioners 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.

(vi) The petitioners shall not leave State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.