IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 2ND DAY OF APRIL, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A. PATIL CRIMINAL PETITION NO.6836/2018 BETWEEN:
1. Subramani.M S/o Mouthulu Naidu, Aged about 57 years, Managing Partner of Elegent Builders And Developers.
2. Smt. Prabha W/o Subramani.M, Aged about 50 years, Partner of Elegent Builders And Developers.
3. Manjunatha.S.N S/o Subramani.M, Aged about 31 years, Partner of Elegent Builders And Developers.
4. Rajesh.S S/o Subramani.M, Aged about 29 years, Partner of Elegent Builders And Developers.
All are residing at No.5, 5th Cross, J.P.Nagar, Bengaluru-560 078. ... Petitioners (By Sri. Ramakrishna Hegde, Adv.,) AND:
State of Karnataka Rep. by Jayanagar Police Station, Rep. by Public Prosecutor, High Court of Karnataka, Bengaluru-560 001. ... Respondent (By Smt. Namitha Mahesh B.G, HCGP) This Criminal Petition is filed u/s.438 of Cr.P.C praying to enlarge the petitioners on bail in the event of their arrest in Crime No.255/2018 of Jayanagar Police Station, Bengaluru City for the offence P/U/S 506, 120B, 420 r/w 34 of IPC.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders, this day, the Court made the following:
O R D E R This petition has been filed by the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. praying this Court to release them on anticipatory bail in the event of their arrest in Crime No.255/2018 of Jayanagara Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 506, 420, 120B read with Section 34 of IPC.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for petitioners and the learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent-State.
3. Gist of the complaint is that on 06.07.2018 at about 4.30 p.m., the complainant and others filed the complaint alleging that the accused No.1 is the Managing Director and accused No.2 to 4 are also developers of the Elegant Builders and Developers. They have entered into an Joint Development Agreement dated 02.05.2013 with the owners of the land bearing No.247 at Jayanagar, Bengaluru. They agreed for 7 ½ share each. They have shown the documents pertaining to the above said property and assured that the apartment Nos.001, 201, 202, 203, 401, 402 and 403 were for sale. The Managing Partner and remaining partners misrepresented and the said apartments were not sold to anybody and they have also not mortgaged the same to anybody else, the said property is free from encumbrance. Due to verification of those documents through their counsel, they come forward for purchasing the flats. They purchased the said flats by way of registered sale deeds by availing loan from banks and they are staying in the said flats. In that circumstance, on 12.01.2018, the complainants saw a sticker board in front of their apartment installed by India Bulls Finance Limited, stating that the flats have been mortgaged with India Bulls Finance Limited. After enquiry, they came to know that the said flats have been mortgaged by the Managing partner and partners of the Elegant Builders and Developers and cheated the complainants to the tune of Rs.7,34,46,480/-. On the basis of the complaint, a case has been registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for petitioners that the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 are innocent and they have paid the loan amount of Rs.2.5 crores to the India Bulls Finance Limited. It is further submitted that they have given another property wroth Rs.9 Crores to the India Bulls Finance Limited as collateral security to avail the said loan and once the Finance company took the collateral security for additional security, they have taken the Joint Development Agreement which was also not known to the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4. It is further submitted that a similar complaint was also registered by the said complainants only with an intention to defraud the accused. Further it is submitted that the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 owns substantial movable and immovable properties and having deep roots in the society. The said matter is in the nature of civil dispute. On these grounds, he prayed to allow the petition and to release the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 on anticipatory bail.
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader vehemently argued and submitted that the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 by cheating, they have mortgaged the said property to India Bulls Finance Limited and have obtained huge amount and thereafter, have sold the property to the complainants and cheated them. It is further stated that the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 are not available for the purpose of investigation or interrogation. She further submitted that if the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 are enlarged on bail, they may abscond and they may not be available for trial. 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 both the parties and perused the records.
7. As per the documents, the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 have entered into an Joint Development Agreement with the owner of the property. As per the said agreement, 50% of the share goes to the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 and 50% of share goes to the owner of the land. It is alleged that the documents produced by the petitioners, developers and the complainants are created and fraudulent documents that is the legal aspects, which have to be considered and appreciated only at the time of trial. The alleged offences are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life. Under the said facts and circumstance, I feel that by imposing some stringent conditions, if the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 are released on bail, it is going to meet the ends of justice.
8. In the light of discussions held by me above, petition is allowed and the petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 are ordered to be released on anticipatory bail in the event of their arrest in Crime No.255/2018 of Jayanagara Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 506, 420, 120B read with Section 34 of IPC subject to the following conditions:
1. Petitioners/accused Nos.1 to 4 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.5,00,000/-(Rupees Five Lakhs Only) each with two sureties each for the likesum to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer.
2. They shall surrender before the Investigating Officer within 15 days from today.
3. They shall co-operate with the Investigating Officer for the purpose of investigation.
4. They shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence either directly or indirectly.
5. They shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Court without prior permission 6. They shall mark their attendance once in a month, i.e., 1st of every month between 10.00 a.m., and 5.00 p.m., before the jurisdictional police station, till the charge sheet is filed.
In view of disposal of the main petition, I.A. No.1/2018 does not survive for consideration.
VBS Sd/- JUDGE