IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 30TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A. PATIL CRIMINAL PETITION NO.8844/2018 BETWEEN:
Farhana Begam W/o. Mazar Pasha, Aged about 55 years R/at: D.No.23, 5th Cross, Mahadevapura Road, Shanthi Nagar, Mysuru District – 577423. ...Petitioner (By Sri. B. Lethif, Advocate) AND:
The State of Karnataka by Udayagiri Police Station, Mysuru District, Rep. by State Public Prosecutor, High Court Building Bengaluru – 560001. ...Respondent (By Sri. K.P.Yoganna, HCGP) This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 439 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure Code praying to enlarge the petitioner on bail in Crime No.261/2018 of Udayagiri Police Station, Mysore City for the offence punishable under Sections 302, 307, 449, 120B, 201, 114 read with Section 34 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 petitioner/accused No.3 under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. to release her on bail in Crime No.261/2018 of Udayagiri Police Station, Mysuru for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 307, 449, 120B, 201, 114 read with Section 34 of IPC.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent-State.
3. Gist of the complaint is that the complainant got married to one Syed Suhail about three years back, after the marriage, they had tortured the complainant by demanding dowry and harassing her by using filthy language. It is further alleged that thereafter, the complainant had approached the Court for seeking maintenance and Court awarded an amount of Rs.4,500/- per month and her husband got arrested and remanded to judicial custody for not having paid the maintenance amount. In that light on 20.07.2018 at about 10 O’ clock, when the complainant, Imtiyaz, Dilshad Banu, Nazia Banu and children were at home, the accused No.1-Syed Irfan came with a Talwar and assaulted the family members by raising a slogan that because of them his brother had been to jail and he will not let them to survive. In the said galatta complainant’s sister Nazia Banu sustained injuries and the complainant escaped from the spot by closing the door. It is further alleged that the complainant’s father was coming back to home in an Auto-rickshaw and when he reached Ayesha Drug House at Masjid Road, accused No.1- Syed Irfan had obstructed the Auto and raised a slogan that because of his daughter his brother is languishing in jail and in the same place accused Nos.2 and 3 were present and picked up the quarrel and started assaulting him with hands and at that time, accused No.1 by using Iron rod assaulted on the head, chest and other parts of the body and immediately the injured was shifted to K.R.Hospital and subsequently, he died due to the said injuries and as such, case was registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner/accused No.3 that the entire case is against accused No.1 and he is the one who assaulted the complainant’s father-deceased with Iron rod and because of the said injuries, the complainant’s father died. The allegation which has been made as against accused No.3 is that she assaulted the deceased with hands. He further submitted that the alleged offence is not punishable with death or imprisonment for life and he further submitted that the petitioner/accused No.3 is a woman and that she is ready to abide by any of the terms and conditions imposed by this Court and offer sureties. On these grounds, he prayed to allow the petition and to release the petitioner/accused No.3 on bail.
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader vehemently argued and submitted that the petitioner/accused No.3 was present along with accused Nos.1 and 2 at the time of alleged incident, even the CCTV footage also clearly shows the presence of petitioner when accused No.1 assaulted the deceased with a machete. He further submitted that the recovery of machete, which was used in the incident has been recovered on disclosure by petitioner. Further, it is submitted that if the petitioner/accused No.3 is released on bail, she may abscond and may not be available for trial. On these grounds, he prayed to dismiss the petition.
6. I have carefully and cautiously gone through the contents of the complaint and other materials, which has been produced along with the petition and the submissions made by learned counsel appearing for the parties.
7. As could be seen from the contents of the complaint and other material, it is accused No.1- Syed Irfan who came with a Talwar and in the first instance, he assaulted the family members and thereafter he saw the complainant’s father near Ayesha Drug House at Masjid Road, who was in Auto-rickshaw, the accused No.1 stopped the Auto and raised a slogan that because of his daughter his brother is languishing in jail and thereafter, assaulted him with Iron rod on the head, chest and other parts of the body and thereby, he has committed alleged offence. In so far as accused No.3 is concerned, the only allegation is that she assaulted the deceased with her hands, which shows she had no intention to cause the death. Under such facts and circumstances, I feel that by imposing stringent conditions if the petitioner/accused No.3 is ordered to be released on bail, it would meet the ends of justice.
8. In the light of the discussion held by me above, the petition is allowed and petitioner/accused No.3 is ordered to be released on bail in Crime No.261/2018 of Udayagiri Police Station, Mysuru for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 307, 449, 120B, 201, 114 read with Section 34 of IPC subject to the following conditions:
1. Petitioner/accused No.3 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.2,00,000/-(Rupees Two lakhs only) with two sureties for the likesum to the satisfaction of the trial Court.
2. She shall be regular in attending the Court till the trial is concluded.
3. She shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence directly or indirectly.
4. She shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Court without prior permission.
SMJ Sd/- JUDGE