IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 22ND DAY OF MARCH, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A. PATIL CRIMINAL PETITION NO.5652/2018 BETWEEN:
1. Ahammad Shammas @ Suhail, S/o Mohammadh Rafiq, Aged about 20 years, R/o Perimar House, Pudu Village, Bantwal, D.K.-574 211.
2. Mohammadh Afiz, S/o Esaq, Aged about 21 years, R/o Naringana, Pudu Village, Bantwal, D.K.-574 211. ... Petitioners (By Sri. Dineshkumar.K.Rao, Advocate for Sri. R.B.Deshpande, Advocate) AND:
The State of Karnataka by Konaje Police Station, Mangaluru City – 575 001. ... Respondent (Represented by State Public Prosecutor, High Court Buildings, Bengaluru-560 001) (By Smt Namitha Mahesh.R.G, HCGP) This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 438 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure Code praying to enlarge the petitioners on bail in the event of their arrest in Cr.No.148/2018 of Konaje police station, Mangalore City, for the offence punishable under Section 379 of IPC.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders, this day, the Court made the following:
ORDER The present petition has been filed by the petitioners-accused Nos.2 & 3 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. seeking to release them on anticipatory bail in Crime No.148/2018 of Konaje Police Station, Mangalore, for the offence punishable under Section 379 of IPC.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned High Court Government Pleader for the respondent-State.
3. The gist of the complaint is that the complainant is doing wood business and also doing animal husbandry. On 11/05/2018 at Kisan Nagar, Harekala Village, Mangalore Taluk, the complainant has left his goat for grazing. At about 3:30 p.m., some unknown persons took away his goat in a car bearing Reg.No.KA.19/MG.6470. The said goat was worth of Rs.6,000/-. On the basis of the complaint, a case was registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioners that the complaint was registered as against unknown persons and subsequently, accused No.1 has been apprehended and on the basis of voluntary statement given by accused No.1, these two accused persons i.e., accused Nos.2 & 3 have been implicated in the said case. He further submitted that in no way the accused persons are concerned in the alleged crime and as already accused No.1 has been released on bail, on the ground of parity, accused Nos.2 & 3 are also entitled to be released on anticipatory bail. It is further submitted that the said offence is not punishable under death or imprisonment for life. The petitioners-accused Nos.2 & 3 are ready to abide by any conditions imposed on them by this Court and ready to offer sureties. On these grounds, he prayed to allow the petition and to release the petitioners-accused Nos.2 & 3 on anticipatory bail.
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader vehemently argued and submitted that the petitioners-accused Nos.2 & 3 along with accused No.1 have taken away the goat in a car bearing Reg.No.KA.19/MG.6470 and subsequently, they have caused loss to the complainant. She further submitted that if the petitioners-accused Nos.2 & 3 are released on bail, they may abscond and may not be available for investigation or interrogation. On these grounds, she prayed to dismiss the petition.
6. I have carefully and cautiously gone through the submissions made by the learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the records.
7. As could be seen from the records, the only allegation which has been made in the complaint is that the unknown persons came in a car bearing Reg.No.KA.19/MG.6470 and they have taken away the goat of the complainant, in this regard no identification has been made but accused Nos.2 & 3 have been included in the said case only on the basis of voluntary statement of accused No.1. The said offence is not punishable under death or imprisonment for life. Under such circumstances, I feel that by imposing stringent conditions if the petitioners-accused Nos.2 & 3 are ordered to be released on anticipatory bail, it would meet the ends of justice.
8. In the light of the discussion held by me above, the petition is allowed and petitioners-accused Nos.2 & 3 are ordered to be released on anticipatory bail in Crime No.148/2018 of Konaje Police Station, Mangalore, for the offence punishable under Section 379 of IPC., subject to the following conditions:
1. In the event of their arrest, the Investigating Officer is directed to enlarge them on bail on being executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/-(Rupees One Lakh Only) each with two sureties for the likesum to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer.
2. They shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence directly or indirectly.
3. They shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Court without prior permission. They shall be regular in attending the trial and co- operate with the investigation.
4. They shall mark their attendance once in 15 days between 10.00 a.m., to 5.00 p.m., before the jurisdictional police station till the chargesheet is filed.
5. They are directed to surrender before the Investigating Officer within 15 days from today.
6. They shall not indulge in similar type of criminal activities.
Sd/- JUDGE SMJ