IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 15th DAY OF APRIL, 2019 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A.PATIL CRIMINAL PETITION NO.1879/2019 BETWEEN :
V. Abishek Gowda S/o M.Venkatesh Aged about 23 years Agriculturist, R/o M. Shattihalli Village Manikyanahalli Post Pandavapura Taluk Mandya District-571 434.
… Petitioner (By Sri H.R.Ramakrishne Gowda, Advocate) AND :
State of Karnataka by Honnali Police Station Davanagere District Represented by State Public Prosecutor High Court of Karnataka Building Bengaluru-560 001.
(By Sri M.Divakar Maddur, HCGP) … Respondent This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 438 of Cr.P.C praying to set aside or quash the order passed by the I Additional District and Sessions Judge, Davanagere in Crl.Misc.No.199/2019 dated 01.03.2019 and further it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the Civil Judge (Jr. Dn.) and JMFC, Honnali, to release the petitioner on bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No.33/2019 and also direct the respondent Honnali Police Station to release the petitioner in the event of his arrest in the said Crime No.33/2019 for the alleged offence punishable under Section 364(A) of Indian Penal Code.
This Criminal Petition coming on for orders this day, the Court made the following:-
O R D E R The present petition is filed by accused No.1 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. praying to release him on anticipatory bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No.33/2019 of Honnali Police Station for the offence punishable under Section 364A of IPC.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned HCGP for the respondent- State.
3. The gist of the complaint is that Lingaraju, brother-in-law of the complainant used to travel from Honnali to Kyasanakere Village to look after the land. On 2.2.2019 as usual he had been to Kyasanakere Village to his areca nut land along with Siddappa and Nagarajappa. When they were working, at about 12.30 p.m, some persons came and introduced themselves as CCB police and asked the brother -in-law of the complainant to come along with them for the purpose of enquiry. They took him in the said car and proceeded. Siddappa who was along with the victim, noted the car number as KA-02-AC-407 and informed the same to the complainant. It is further alleged when the children of the victim came to Haralahalli they informed that they received a call from four persons demanding Rs.30 Lakhs and if the amount is not paid they would kill the brother-in-law of complainant. Thereafter, the accused persons brought the victim back and left near the land. On the basis of the complaint, a case has been registered.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is innocent and he has not been involved in the alleged crime. Complaint does not disclose the name of the petitioner and there is no incriminating material to point out the guilt of the petitioner. He further submitted that the alleged offence has taken place on 2.2.2019 and the complaint was lodged on 10.2.2019 and there is delay of eight days in filing the complaint. He further submitted that the victim Lingarjau who has been kidnapped has not filed the complaint but some other person has filed the complaint. The alleged offences are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life. Petitioner is ready to abide by the conditions imposed by this Court and ready to offer sureties. On these grounds, he prayed to allow the petition.
5. Per contra, the learned HCGP vehemently argued and submitted that there is ample material to connect the petitioner-accused No.1 to the alleged crime. The alleged offences are heinous in nature. The petitioner along with other accused persons kidnapped the victim for ransom and made a threatening call, saying that if the amount of Rs.30 Lakhs has not been paid, the victim would be killed. He further submitted that if the petitioner is enlarged on bail, he may again indulge in similar type of criminal activities. On these grounds, he prayed to dismiss the petition.
6. I have carefully and cautiously gone through the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and perused the records.
7. As could be seen from the contents of the complaint, the alleged incident has taken place on 2.2.2019 and the complaint is registered on 10.2.2019. There is delay of eight days in filing the complaint. No proper explanation is made in this behalf. As could be seen from the contents of the complaint, it disclosed the fact that the accused persons took the victim into the car and thereafter they have snatched the mobile phone and thereafter they have brought him back and left the victim near the village, that itself falsifies that the accused persons have kidnapped the victim for ransom of Rs.30 Lakhs. If they have kidnapped the victim for the said purpose, definitely they would not have brought him back and left near the village. Under such circumstances, I feel that the petitioner has made out a case to release him on anticipatory bail.
Accordingly, the petition is allowed and the petitioner-accused No.1 is granted anticipatory bail. In the event of his arrest in Crime No.33/2019 of Honnali Police Station for the offence punishable under Section 364A of IPC, the petitioner herein is ordered to be released, subject to the following conditions:-
i) Petitioner shall execute a personal bond for Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees two lakhs only) with two sureties for the like sum to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer.
ii) He shall surrender before the Investigating Officer within fifteen days from today.
iii) He shall co-operate with the Investigation as and when required.
iv) He shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence in any manner.
v) He shall not leave the jurisdiction of the trial Court without prior permission.
vi) He shall mark his attendance once in fifteen days before the jurisdictional police between 10.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. till the charge sheet is filed.
Sd/- JUDGE *ck/-