Jayesh V and Others v. State of Kerala and Indumathy

Case Details & Bench

Court: High Court of Kerala
Hon'ble Judges: A. Badharudeen
Judgment Date: 2022-05-13
Court Decision / Holding: Petition allowed; pre-arrest bail granted to petitioners with conditions: surrender before IO by 20.05.2022 between 9:00–11:00 AM; if arrested, produced before jurisdictional Magistrate on the day of arrest; bonds of Rs.50,000 with two solvent sureties; comply with Covid-19 restrictions; cooperate with investigation; appear as directed; not to induce or threaten; no criminal activity during bail; bail cancellation on violation.
Final Disposition: Granted pre-arrest bail

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

Jayesh V (A1)
Velayudhan (A2)
Vijayalakshmi (A3)
Ajith (A4)
Krishnaveni (A5)

Respondents

State of Kerala represented by the Public Prosecutor, High Court of Kerala, Ernakulam
Station House Officer, Chittoor Police Station, Palakkad
Indumathy (defacto complainant) aged 24 years D/O Sathyanarayanan, SAI ILLAM, Valamuttythekkagramam, Chittoor P.O., Palakkad

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

• M. Jayakrishnan
• Ajaya Kumar

Counsels for Respondents

• SRI M.C. ASHI - P.P

Case Synopsis & Summary

This is a bail application under Section 438 Cr.P.C. arising from Crime No. 611/2021 of Chittoor Police Station, Palakkad. The petitioners—Jayesh V (A1) and his relatives Velayudhan (A2), Vijayalakshmi (A3), Ajith (A4), and Krishnaveni (A5)—sought pre-arrest bail in a case alleging cruelty and dowry demand after the marriage to the defacto complainant. The FIR (Crime No. 409/2022?) references alleged acts of cruelty, physical and mental, following the marriage on 09.09.2021, under Section 498A IPC read with Section 34 IPC. The learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the allegations are false and there are no serious overt acts justifying detention, offering full cooperation in the investigation and pressing for anticipatory bail. The Public Prosecutor argued that the offences are serious, but after scrutiny of the material, the court noted that the general allegations of cruelty do not reveal overt acts warranting custodial interrogation. It observed that investigation can continue without custodial interrogation and thus granted pre-arrest bail on specific conditions. The order directs surrender before the Investigating Officer by 20.05.2022 between 9 and 11 AM, with bonds of Rs.50,000 each and two solvent sureties, and imposes standard conditions—cooperation, compliance with Covid-19 restrictions, appearance as directed, prohibition on inducement, and a potential cancellation of bail for violation. The judge signs the order as single-judge authority.

Provisions of Law Cited

Cr.P.C. Section 438Indian Penal Code Section 498AIndian Penal Code Section 34

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

The petitioners contend that the allegations are false and no serious overt acts warrant custodial detention; they offered to cooperate with investigation and pressed for anticipatory bail; court should consider granting pre-arrest bail subject to conditions.

Contentions of Respondents

The Public Prosecutor opposed bail, noting serious offences; perusal of material suggests general allegations of cruelty after marriage; no custodial interrogation required; investigation feasible without custodial interrogation.

Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

## **IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM** ## **PRESENT** **THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. BADHARUDEEN FRIDAY, THE 13[TH] DAY OF MAY 2022 / 23RD VAISAKHA, 1944** **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022 CRIME NO.611/2021 OF CHITTOOR POLICE STATION** ## **PETITIONER/ACCUSED:** 1 JAYESH V (A1) AGED 33 YEARS S/O VELAYUDHAN,HOUSE NO. 186, KATTANATHODI (H), TOTTAKKARA P.O. OTTAPPALAM, PALAKKAD, PIN - 679102 2 VELAYUDHAN (A2) AGED 75 YEARS S/O SUBRAMANYAN, HOUSE NO. 186, KATTANATHODI (H), TOTTAKKARA P.O. OTTAPPALAM, PALAKKAD , PIN - 679102 3 VIJAYALAKSHMI (A3) AGED 64 YEARS W/O VELAYUDHAN,HOUSE NO. 186, KATTANATHODI (H), TOTTAKKARA P.O. OTTAPPALAM, PALAKKAD, PIN - 679102 4 AJITH (A4) AGED 36 YEARS S/O VELAYUDHAN, HOUSE NO. 186, KATTANATHODI (H), TOTTAKKARA P.O. OTTAPPALAM, PALAKKAD , PIN - 679102 5 KRISHNAVENI (A5) AGED 34 YEARS D/O VELAYUDHAN, HOUSE NO. 186, KATTANATHODI (H), TOTTAKKARA P.O. OTTAPPALAM, PALAKKAD, PIN - 679102 BY ADVS. M.JAYAKRISHNAN AJAYA KUMAR. G ## **RESPONDENT/STATE AND DEFACTO COMPLAINANT:** 1 STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM , PIN - 682031 2 STATION HOUSE OFFICER CHITTOOR POLICE STATION, **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** **2** CHITTOOR, PALAKKAD , PIN - 678101 3 INDUMATHY AGED 24 YEARS D/O SATHYANARAYANAN, , SAI ILLAM, VALAMUTTYTHEKKEGRAMAM, CHITTOOR P.O., PALAKKAD , PIN - 678101 SRI M.C. ASHI - P.P THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 13.05.2022, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** **3** ## **A.BADHARUDEEN,J.** **-----------------** **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** ----------------------------Dated this the 13th day of May, 2022 ## **O R D E R** Petitioners, who are the husband and relatives of the defacto complainant in Crime No.611/2021 of Chittoor police station seek the relief of pre-arrest bail apprehending arrest in the above crime in their petition filed under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. 2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Public Prosecutor. 3. The allegation of prosecution is that the 1[st] accused, who married the defacto complainant on 09.09.2021 subjected the defacto complainant to cruelty, physically and mentally **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** **4** demanding more dowry. On the basis of the said allegation at the instance of wife of the 1[st] accused police registered offence under Section 498(A) read with 34 of Indian Penal Code. 4. The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the allegations of the prosecution are false and no serious overt acts in this matter to detain the petitioners in custody. He offered co-operation in the matter of investigation while pressing for anticipatory bail. 5. The learned Public Prosecutor opposed bail on the submission that serious offence alleged to be committed by the accused. On perusal of material before this Court, it could be noticed that though general allegations of cruelty, after marriage, could be gathered, no serious overt acts warranting custodial interrogation of petitions being made out. In view of the matter, investigation is **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** **5** possible even without custodial interrogation. Accordingly this petition stands allowed on the following conditions:- i. The petitioners shall surrender before the Investigating Officer on or before 20.05.2022 between 9 a.m and 11 a.m. on such surrender, the Investigating Officer can interrogate the petitioners and in the event of their arrest, the petitioners shall be produced before the jurisdictional court on the day of arrest itself. On such production, the jurisdictional Magistrate shall release the petitioners on bail, on executing bonds for Rs.50,000/-(Rupees Fifty thousand) each with two solvent sureties, each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Magistrate. In case the petitioners fail to surrender before the Investigating **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** **==> picture [8 x 9] intentionally omitted <==** Officer, the Investigating Officer is at liberty to arrest the petitioners forthwith. ii. The petitioners shall co-operate with Covid-19 restrictions. iii. The petitioners shall co-operate with the investigation and shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when directed, till the final report is filed. The first accused is specifically directed to co-operate with the investigation in the matter of recovery as well. iv. The petitioners, shall not, directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case, so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** **7** officer. v. The petitioners are specifically directed not to involve in any crimes during the currency of bail and any such involvement or violation of the above conditions, if reported or came to the notice of the court will be a reason to cancel the bail hereby granted. ## **Sd/-** ## **A. BADHARUDEEN** **JUDGE** SAS **BAIL APPL. NO. 3613 OF 2022** **8** ## **APPENDIX OF BAIL APPL. 3613/2022** PETITIONERS' ANNEXURES Annexure A1 CITIZEN COPY OF THE FIR IN CRIME NO. 409/2022 OF CHITTOOR POLICE STATION, PALAKKAD DISTRICT DATED 02.05.2022