High Court of KeralaSingle JudgeBail granted under Section 438 CrPC with string...

BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022

Case / Petition Number:BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022

Case Details & Bench

Court
High Court of Kerala
Hon'ble Judges
  • P.V. Kunhikrishnan
Judgment Date
2022-05-06
Court Decision / Holding
The Bail Applications are allowed under Section 438 CrPC with stringent conditions. The petitioners must appear before the Investigating Officer within two weeks for interrogation. If the IO proposes arrest, the petitioners shall be released on bail on executing a bond of Rs.50,000 with two solvent sureties of equal amount. They must appear for interrogation as required, cooperate with the investigation, not induce or threaten witnesses, not leave India without jurisdictional court permission, refrain from committing similar offences, and appear before the IO on all Mondays at 10 AM until final report is filed. If any condition is violated, the jurisdictional court may cancel the bail.
Final Disposition
Bail granted under Section 438 CrPC with stringent conditions.

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

  • Rameez
  • Najmal Nazeer

Respondents

  • State of Kerala

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

  • • Anand Kalyanakrishnan
  • • C. Dheera Rajan

Counsels for Respondents

  • • Public Prosecutor, High Court of Kerala
  • • Sri Vipin Narayan (Sr P.P)

Case Synopsis & Summary

This judgment disposes of two related bail applications filed under Section 438 CrPC in Crime No.269 of 2022 of Pavaratty Police Station. The petitioners, Rameez (BA 3059/2022) and Najmal Nazeer (BA 2408/2022), are accused of offences including non-bailable Section 452 IPC and other sections (e.g., 325 IPC). Heard together by a Single Judge, the petitions were argued with the common stand that only the non-bailable offence is Section 452 IPC and that the petitioners are willing to comply with any conditions the court may impose to secure a fair trial. The Public Prosecutor opposed bail but conceded that the sole non-bailable offence is Section 452 IPC. Relying on established bail jurisprudence, including the principle that bail is the rule and jail is the exception, and after considering the facts, the court allowed both applications with stringent conditions. The orders direct the petitioners to appear before the Investigating Officer within two weeks for interrogation; on any arrest post-interrogation, they must be released on bail on a bond of Rs.50,000 with two sureties; ensure cooperation and not influence witnesses; not leave India without permission; refrain from committing similar offences; and appear before the IO on all Mondays until final report. Violation permits cancellation of bail.

Provisions of Law Cited

Section 438 of Criminal Procedure CodeSection 452 IPCSection 325 IPC

Legal Doctrines & Maxims

  • Bail is the rule and jail is the exception
  • Personal liberty is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

The petitioners argued that the only non-bailable offence is Section 452 IPC and that they are willing to comply with any conditions the Court may impose. They stressed that bail is the rule, not the exception, to safeguard the right to a fair trial and that stringent conditions can adequately address concerns about witnesses and public order.

Contentions of Respondents

The State opposed bail but conceded that only Section 452 IPC is non-bailable in the alleged offences. The prosecuting counsel contended for strict conditions and careful monitoring, arguing that arrest and investigation should proceed with due safeguards; however, no irreparable prejudice to the case was shown that would necessitate denial of bail.

Cited Precedents (3)

Case NameCitationTreatmentExplanation
Chidambaram. P v Directorate of Enforcement2019 (16) SCALE 870PositiveCited to support the core principle that bail is the rule and jail is the exception, reinforcing the court’s approach to grant bail under appropriate conditions.
Siddharth v State of Uttar Pradesh and Another2021(5)KHC 353PositiveCited for its discussion on personal liberty and the circumstances under which arrest may be justified, guiding the grant of bail with conditions.
Joginder Kumar v. State of UP and Others1994 KHC 189; AIR 1994 SC 1349Mentioned OnlyQuoted within Siddharth to illustrate the distinction between power to arrest and justification for arrest; used as a supportive but non-central authority.

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Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

## **`IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT`** ``` THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.V.KUNHIKRISHNAN FRIDAY, THE 6[TH] DAY OF MAY 2022 / 16TH VAISAKHA, 1944 BAIL APPL. NO. 3059 OF 2022 ``` ## **`PETITIONER/S:`** ``` RAMEEZ AGED 29 YEARS S/O ABDUL RAZZAK, VALIYAKATH HOUSE, PAVARATTY VILLAGE, CHAVAKKAD TALUK, THRISSUR DISTRICT, PIN - 680512 BY ADVS. ANAND KALYANAKRISHNAN C.DHEERAJ RAJAN ``` ## **`RESPONDENT/S:`** ``` STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,HIGH COURT OF KERALA, PIN - 682031 BY ADV PUBLIC PROSECUTOR ``` ## **`OTHER PRESENT:`** ``` SRI VIPIN NARAYAN - SR P.P ``` ``` THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 06.05.2022, ALONG WITH Bail Appl..2408/2022, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: ``` -2- BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 ## **`IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM`** ## **`PRESENT`** ``` THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.V.KUNHIKRISHNAN FRIDAY, THE 6[TH] DAY OF MAY 2022 / 16TH VAISAKHA, 1944 BAIL APPL. NO. 2408 OF 2022 ``` ## **`PETITIONER/S:`** ``` NAJMAL NAZEER AGED 29 YEARS S.O. NAZEER, VALIYAKATHPOVIL HOUSE, PAVARATTY VILLAGE, CHAVAKKAD TALUK, THRISSUR DISTRICT, PIN - 680512 BY ADVS. C.DHEERAJ RAJAN ANAND KALYANAKRISHNAN ``` ## **`RESPONDENT/S:`** ``` STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,HIGH COURT OF KERALA, PIN - 682031 BY ADV PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI. VIPIN NARAYAN SR. PP ``` ``` THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 06.05.2022, ALONG WITH Bail Appl..3059/2022, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: ``` -3- BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 ## **P.V.KUNHIKRISHNAN, J.** ====================================================== B.A.Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 ============================================================= Dated this the 6[th ] day of May, 2022 ## **ORDER** These Bail Applications are filed under Section 438 of Criminal Procedure Code. 2. The petitioners are accused in same crime number and therefore, I am disposing of these two bail applications by a common order. Petitioners are accused in Crime No.269 of 2022 of Pavaratty Police Station. The above case is registered against the petitioners alleging offences punishable under Sections 452 and 325 IPC. 3.The prosecution case is that the petitioners trespassed into the residential house of the _de facto_ complainant on 09.03.2022 at 1 am and assaulted him and thereby committed the offences. -4- BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 4. Heard counsel for the petitioners and the Public Prosecutor. The counsel for the petitioners submitted that the only non bailable offence is under Section 452 IPC. The counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners are ready to abide any conditions, if this Court grant them bail. The public prosecutor opposed the bail application. But the public prosecutor conceded that the only non bailable offence alleged is Section 452 IPC. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I think these bail applications can be allowed on stringent conditions. 5. Moreover, it is a well accepted principle that the bail is the rule and the jail is the exception. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in **Chidambaram. P v Directorate of Enforcement (2019 (16) SCALE 870),** after considering all the earlier judgments, observed that, the basic jurisprudence relating to bail remains the same inasmuch as the grant of bail is the rule -5- BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 and refusal is the exception so as to ensure that the accused has the opportunity of securing fair trial. 6. Recently the Apex Court in **Siddharth v State of Uttar Pradesh and Another (2021(5)KHC 353)** considered the point in detail. The relevant paragraph of the above judgment is extracted hereunder. “12. We may note that personal liberty is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate. The occasion to arrest an accused during investigation arises when custodial investigation becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or where there is a possibility of influencing the witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made. A distinction must be made between the existence of the power to arrest and the justification for exercise of it. (Joginder Kumar v. State of UP and Others (1994 KHC 189: (1994) 4 SCC 260: 1994 (1) KLT 919: 1994 (2) KLJ 97: AIR 1994 SC 1349: 1994 CriLJ 1981)) If arrest is made routine, it can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person. If the Investigating Officer has no reason to believe that the accused will abscond or disobey summons and has, in fact, throughout cooperated with the investigation we fail to appreciate why there should -6- BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 be a compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused.” 7. Considering the dictum laid down in the above decision and considering the facts and circumstances of this case, this Bail Application is allowed with the following directions: 1. The petitioners shall appear before the Investigating Officer within two weeks from today and shall undergo interrogation. 2. After interrogation, if the Investigating Officer propose to arrest the petitioners, they shall be released on bail on executing a bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/-(Rupees Fifty Thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the arresting officer concerned. 3. The petitioners shall appear before the Investigating Officer for interrogation as and when required. The petitioners shall co-operate with the investigation and shall not, directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to -7- BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any police officer. 4. Petitioners shall not leave India without permission of the jurisdictional Court. 5. Petitioners shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which they are accused, or suspected, of the commission of which they are suspected. 6. Petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer on all Mondays at 10 am till the final report is filed. 7. If any of the above conditions are violated by the petitioner, the jurisdictional Court can cancel the bail in accordance to law, even though the bail is granted by this Court. The prosecution and the victim are at liberty to approach the jurisdictional court to cancel the bail, if there is any violation of the above conditions. Sd/- ## **P.V.KUNHIKRISHNAN JUDGE** das -8- BA Nos. 2408 & 3059 of 2022 ## **`APPENDIX OF BAIL APPL. 3059/2022`** ``` PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure 1THE TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 07.04.2022 IN B.A 2408/2022 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT ```