IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 14TH DAY OF MARCH, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE B.A. PATIL CRIMINAL PETITION No.413/2019 BETWEEN:
Manu S/o Manju, Aged about 27 years, R/at Yallappa Building, Near Ganesh Temple, Gunjuru, Varthur Hobli, Bengaluru-560 087. …Petitioner (By Sri Somashekhara, Advocate) AND:
State of Karnataka By Whitefield Police Station, Rept. By SPP, High Court of Karnataka, Bengaluru-560 001. …Respondent (By Sri M. Divakar Maddur, HCGP) This Criminal Petition is filed under section 439 of Cr.P.C praying to enlarge the petitioner on bail in Crime No.501/2018 (S.C.No.12/2019) of Whitefield Police Station, Bengaluru City for the offence punishable under Section 397 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 him on bail in Crime No.501/2018 of Whitefield Police Station, Bengaluru (S.C.No.12/2019) for the offence punishable under Section 397 of IPC.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent-State.
3. The facts leading to the complaint are that the complainant is a resident of Immadihalli Main Road, Whitefield. He and his cousin Sharath were working in Red Kot Company. During the intervening night of 28.10.2018 and 29.10.2018, at about 00.15 hours, the complainant and his cousin after taking the dinner in the house of their employer-Avinash were proceeding to their room and when they came near Sriram Temple, three persons came in an auto rickshaw bearing Registration No.KA-41-B-6297 and stopped near the complainant and attempted to snatch the black colour bag which was in the hands of his cousin Sharath. They resisted and thereafter accused No.1 assaulted on the head of Sharath with a ring spanner which was in the auto rickshaw and another person pushed him and also assaulted the complainant and thereafter have snatched the bag. The said bag was containing three pairs of clothes and cash of Rs.2,000/-. On the basis of the complaint, a case has been registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that, only on the basis of the voluntary statement of accused No.1, accused No.3 has been apprehended. He further submitted that no test identification parade has been conducted. The accused persons have been shown to the complainant in the police station. No recovery has been made from the petitioner- accused No.3. The charge sheet has already been filed.
He further submitted that accused No.2 on the similar facts, has been released on bail by this Court in Crl.P.No.140/2019 dated 06.02.2019. On the ground of parity, petitioner-accused No.3 is entitle to be released on bail. He further submitted that petitioner-accused No.3 is not required for further investigation or interrogation. He is ready to abide by any of the terms and conditions that may be imposed by this Court and also ready to offer surety, if he is released on bail. 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 petitioner- accused No.3 was present along with accused Nos.1 and 2. He has participated in the alleged crime by using ring spanner which was used for the commission of offence belonging to the accused No.1 and the same has been recovered from the possession of accused No.2. He further submitted that the complainant has identified accused Nos.1 to 3. If the petitioner-accused No.3 is released on bail, he may abscond and he may not be available for the trial. On these grounds, he 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. On going through the materials, the only allegation which has been made as against the petitioner- accused No.3 is that he was also present along with the other accused persons. The victim has already been discharged from the hospital and the charge sheet has been filed. The accused No.2 has been released on bail by this Court by order dated 06.02.2019 in Crl.P.No.140/2019. On the ground of parity, petitioner- accused No.3 is also entitled to be released on bail. The alleged offence is not punishable with death or imprisonment for life.
8. Under the facts and circumstance, I feel that if the petitioner-accused No.3 is released on bail by imposing some stringent conditions, then it is going to meet the ends of justice.
9. In that light, the petition is allowed and petitioner-accused No.3 is ordered to be released on bail in Crime No.501/2018 of Whitefield Police Station, Bengaluru (S.C.No.12/2019) for the offence punishable under Section 397 of IPC subject to following conditions:
1. Petitioners-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. He shall be regular in appearing before the trial Court till the trial is completed.
3. He shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence in any manner till the completion of the trial.
4. He shall not indulged in similar type of criminal activities in future, if he is involved in any criminal activities, this order shall stands cancelled.
5. He shall mark his attendance on first of every month between 10:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m before the jurisdictional police till the trial is completed.
Sd/- JUDGE HA/-