The two petitioners herein, who are military personnel, are accused Nos.1 & 2 respectively in Crime No.257/2014 of Railway Police Station, Ernakulam registered for offences under Sections 354, 294(b) r/w Section 34 Indian Penal Code. The brief of the prosecution case is that on 2.9.2014 while the defacto complainant was travelling from New Delhi to Kerala by Train No.12626 (Kerala Express), the petitioners and other two accused misbehaved towards her after consuming alcohol and also used abusive words and thereby caused to outrage her modesty and that accused thereby committed offences as alleged above. It is submitted by Smt.M.Sonia, learned counsel for the petitioners, that they are innocent of the above said allegations, that they have not committed the offences and that they happened to travel in the same compartment in which other military personnel also travelled and that the case has been falsely foisted on the petitioners. The learned counsel for the petitioners would submit that the custodial interrogation is not necessary in the facts and circumstances and that the petitioners would make themselves available for questioning or interrogation by the police as and when required, for effectuating the proper conduct of the investigation, and that on this basis the plea of pre-arrest bail may be allowed subject to any stringent condition that may be imposed by this Court to protect the bonafide interest of the prosecution.
2. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted about the details of registration and investigation of the case and that two accused have been already arrested and subsequently released on bail and in case this Court is inclined to grant pre- arrest bail to the petitioners, it should be specifically ordered that the petitioners shall make themselves available for questioning and interrogation at any time as required by the investigating officer and they should fully co-operate with the investigation etc.
3. Having heard the submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioners and learned Public Prosecutor and on an evaluation of the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is inclined to hold that the plea of pre- arrest bail could be granted in this case but, subject to stringent conditions. It is specifically ordered that the petitioners shall make themselves available for questioning and interrogation before the investigating officer in this crime as and when required by him and petitioners shall fully co- operate with the fair and smooth conduct of the investigation etc. Accordingly, it is ordered that in the event of the petitioners being arrested in connection with the instant Crime No.257/2014 of Railway Police Station, Ernakulam, then they shall be released on bail on their separately executing bond for ` 35,000/- (Rupees Thirtyfive Thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the investigating officer concerned in the aforementioned crime. This order will be subject to the following conditions:-
i) The petitioners shall surrender their passport, if any, before the jurisdictional Magistrate concerned within three days from execution of the bail bond before the investigating officer concerned and if either of them are not holders of passport, then they shall file affidavit to that effect in the said court. If the petitioners require their passport in connection with their travel abroad, then they are free to approach the court concerned for the release of the same and for necessary permission in that regard. In case if such an application is filed, the court below concerned is free to consider the same on merits and to pass appropriate orders thereon, taking necessary guidance from the principles laid down in the decision of this Court in the case Asok Kumar v. State of Kerala, reported in 2009 (2) KLT 712, notwithstanding the aforementioned condition imposed by this Court.
(ii) The petitioners shall not involve in any criminal offence of similar or graver nature.
(iii) The petitioners shall co-operate with the investigation and report before the investigating officer as and when required.
(iv) The petitioners shall not influence the witnesses or shall not tamper or attempt to tamper evidence in any manner whatsoever.
If the petitioners fail to comply with any of the conditions as ordered above, the bail granted to them are liable to be cancelled.
bkn/-
ALEXANDER THOMAS, Judge.