IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 22ND DAY OF JULY, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE S. SUNIL DUTT YADAV CRIMINAL PETITION No.4535/2019 BETWEEN:
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Aged about 38 years S/o. Madayya Swami, Tahasildar, Puttur Taluk, R/at Markandi House, Basava Kalyana Beedar District – 585 327. ... Petitioner (By Sri. S. Vishwajith Shetty, Advocate) AND:
State of Karnataka, A.C.B. Police Station, Mangaluru, Represented by Special Public Prosecutor Bengaluru – 560 001. ... Respondent (By Sri. Venkatesh P. Dalwai, Spl.P.P.) This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure praying to enlarge the petitioner on bail in Cr.No.8/2019 of A.C.B. Police Station, Mangaluru, Dakshina Kannada for the offence punishable under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders, this day, the Court made the following:
ORDER The petitioner is seeking to be enlarged on bail in connection with his detention pursuant to proceedings in Crime No.8/2019 for the offence punishable under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (‘the Act’ for brevity).
2. The case of the prosecution is that a complaint was lodged before the ACB Police stating that the complainant had rendered the catering service for the benefit of election staff between the period 30.03.2019 to 18.04.2019 and had submitted the bill to the Tahsildar. It is stated that portion of the amount was initially cleared and the petitioner had allegedly received an amount of Rs.99,000/- by way of bribe. It is further alleged that as regards the balance amount of Rs.3,04,000/- that was to be cleared, the petitioner had allegedly demanded illegal gratification of Rs.1,25,000/- from the complainant. In light of the above said facts and demand alleged to have been made by the petitioner, a complaint was lodged before the ACB Police and case was registered in Cr.No.8/2019 for the offence punishable under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and FIR was registered. It is stated that a trap was arranged and when the petitioner was receiving bribe amount of Rs.1,25,000/- as pre arranged, the respondent-police who were present at the spot and arrested the petitioner on 21.06.2019 and produced him before the jurisdictional Court and the petitioner remains in custody since then.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner states that the version made out in the complaint is false and there was no demand. It is also stated that looking into the nature of punishment prescribed under Section 7 of the Act, the petitioner is entitled to be enlarged on bail. It is further submitted that necessary evidence has been collected at the time of the trap.
4. Noticing that in such proceedings wherein trap is resorted to, the best evidence is obtained while bribe is received during trap. It is also noticed that the petitioner is a Government employee and has been in custody since 21.06.2019. Accordingly, the petitioner may be enlarged on bail by imposing necessary conditions to ensure co-operation with further investigation as may be necessary.
5. Accordingly, the petitioner is entitled to be enlarged on bail in light of the observations made above.
6. In the result, the bail petition filed by the petitioner under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. is allowed and the petitioner is enlarged on bail in Crime No.8/2019 for the offence punishable under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, subject to the following conditions:-
(i) The petitioner shall appear in person before the Investigating Officer in connection with Crime No.8/2019 15 days from the date of release of the order and shall execute a personal bond for a sum of `1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only) with a surety for the likesum before the concerned court.
(ii) The petitioner shall not tamper with evidence, influence in any way any witness.
(iii) In the event of change of address, the petitioner to inform the same to the concerned SHO.
(iv) The petitioner shall fully co-operate with the Investigating Officer and shall not indulge in any criminal activities of like nature.
(v) Any violation of the aforementioned conditions by the petitioner, shall result in cancellation of bail.
Any observation made herein shall not be taken as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.
Sd/- JUDGE SJK