Vineesh O.V vs State Of Kerala

Ziyad Rahman A.A., J

The petitioner is the sole accused in Crime No.32/2023 of Ernakulam Railway Police. The offences alleged against the petitioner are punishable under Sections 341, 324 and 326 of the Indian Penal Code.

The prosecution case is that on 09.03.2023, at about 9.00 p.m, while the petitioner was travelling in Mysore Express Train, and when the train reached at a place between Aluva and Kalamassery, he wrongfully restrained the husband of the de-facto complainant and inflicted injuries on his forehead with a glass bottle, resulting in serious injuries on his left eye. The crime was registered in such circumstances and as part of investigation, the petitioner was arrested on 10.03.2023. Since then the petitioner has been under judicial custody. This application is submitted in such circumstances seeking regular bail.

Heard Sri.K.R.Vinod., learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri.C.N.Prabhakaran, learned Public Prosecutor for the State.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is innocent of all the allegations and he was falsely implicated in the said case. It is pointed out that, he is prepared to abide by any conditions that may be imposed by this Court. It is further pointed out that now the investigation is already over and final report is filed. Therefore, further incarceration of the petitioner is not necessary.

On the other hand learned Public Prosecutor would oppose the aforesaid application. According to him, the petitioner is involved in 7 other cases. However, the fact that investigation is completed and final report submitted is confirmed by the learned Public Prosecutor.

In response to the averment regarding the criminal antecedents, learned counsel for the petitioner made available the copies of the F.I.R registered against the petitioner. I have gone through the same. It would indicate that the offences alleged in those cases were not very serious in nature except the one in Crime No.1424/2022 of Panangad Police Station, which was registered for the offence under Section 22 (a) of the NDPS Act. It is pointed out that the petitioner has already been released on bail in the said case.

After considering all the relevant facts, I am of the view that, the petitioner can be released on bail.

This is particularly in view of the fact that the petitioner is in custody since 10.03.2023 onwards and investigation in this case is already over. Therefore, further incarceration of the petitioner is not necessary. Accordingly it is ordered that the petitioner shall be released on bail, subject to the following conditions:-

1) The petitioner shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.

2) The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when required.

3) The petitioner shall not commit any offence of similar nature while on bail.

4) The petitioner shall not make any 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.

5) The petitioner shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the jurisdictional court.

6) The petitioner shall surrender his passport before the Jurisdictional court and, in case he does not have a passport, an affidavit to that effect shall be filed.

In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional Court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation of bail, if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.