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Judgment
These applications are filed u/s 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail.
The petitioners in BA No.2731/2021 are the accused Nos. 1 to 3 in Crime No.1/2021 of Forest Range Office, Agatti Island, Union Territory of Lakhshadeep and the petitioner in BA.No.3155/2021 is the 4th accused in crime No.WLOR(AGT) No.1/2021 of Amini Police Station, Lakshadweep. The offences alleged are under Sections 9, 39(30)(c), 44, 48/A, 51, 52 and 56 of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 and Sections 414 and 463 of Indian Penal Code.
The prosecution case in short is that a boat was allegedly hired by the 9th accused from the 8th accused, who is the owner of the boat, for the purpose of transporting fish from Agatti to the main land. But instead of engaging in that particular job of transporting fish, the boat was found 20 nautical miles away and had diverted from the said route, and on being intercepted it was found carrying 298.44kgms of sea cucumbers packed in plastic wrappers, a protected species coming under Schedule 1 of the Wild Life Protection Act. All the persons inside the boat, including the petitioners were apprehended and remanded to judicial custody.
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. He 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 petitioners were remanded to judicial custody on 11.03.2021. 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. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the 8th and 9th accused are yet to be arrested and hence strict condition has to imposed that the petitioners shall not leave Lakshadweep Islands. The learned Public Prosecutor further submitted that, there may be a condition that sureties shall be from the Lakshadweep itself. I am of the view that the said apprehension raised by the Public Prosecutor is genuine and the said conditions are to be imposed. For all these reasons, the petitioners are entitled to be released on bail on conditions.
In the result, these applications are 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. The sureties shall be the native of Lakshadweep Islands.
(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 the Union Territory of Lakshadweep without the permission of the trial Court.