High Court of KeralaSingle JudgeBail granted; matter disposed of with specified...

Libin T J v. State of Kerala

Case / Petition Number:B.A. No. 7267 of 2014

Case Details & Bench

Court
High Court of Kerala
Hon'ble Judges
  • Alexander Thomas, J.
Judgment Date
2014-10-14
Court Decision / Holding
The petitioner shall be released on bail on his executing a bond for Rs. 35,000 with two solvent sureties for the like amount to the satisfaction of the Sessions Court, Thalassery, subject to conditions (i) surrender of passport if any, with liberty to apply for passport release upon travel abroad after due process, (ii) report before the IO on alternate Sundays between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., (iii) no interference with investigation, (iv) no witness tampering, (v) full cooperation with investigation, and (vi) not entering the territorial limits of the Thaliparamba Police Station until final report is submitted (except for compliance). If any condition is violated, bail is liable to be cancelled.
Final Disposition
Bail granted; matter disposed of with specified conditions.

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

  • Libin T J

Respondents

  • State of Kerala represented by the Public Prosecutor, High Court of Kerala (through S.H.O., Taliparamba Police Station)
  • R by Public Prosecutor, Sri Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

  • • Sri V.A. Satheesh
  • • Sri V.T. Madhavanunni
  • • Sri J. Abhilash

Counsels for Respondents

  • • Public Prosecutor, State of Kerala
  • • Sri Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran

Case Synopsis & Summary

Libin T J, a 22-year-old accused in Crime No. 1024/2014 of Taliparamba Police Station, Kannur District, seeks regular bail under section 439 CrPC. The alleged offences are sections 366 and 376 IPC and section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He has been in judicial custody since 12.08.2014; the previous bail application was rejected by the Sessions Court, Thalassery (Annexure A1, 22.09.2014). The defense argues that the minor victim, aged 17, is above the statutory age of consent and the girl allegedly fled her home of her own accord; it is submitted that the accused was more than 40 km away from the place of occurrence and there is no compelling reason to keep him in custody. The counsel contends innocence and asserts family harassment, claiming a false case. The petitioner has already undergone about 61–62 days of detention; the prosecution counters that the investigation is nearing completion and, if bail is granted, appropriate conditions should safeguard the prosecution’s interests. The court, after considering all facts and circumstances, grants regular bail in a sum of Rs. 35,000 with two solvent sureties, subject to conditions including surrender of passport (if any), periodic reporting to IO, prohibitions on interfering with the investigation or witnesses, and restricted entry to Thaliparamba PS until final report is submitted. It cites guiding principles from Asok Kumar v. State of Kerala for passport-related permissions.

Provisions of Law Cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, Section 439Indian Penal Code, Sections 366 and 376Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Section 4

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

The petitioner contends innocence and asserts that the minor victim is 17 years old, above the statutory age of consent; the defacto complainant allegedly fled at her own will; the accused is over 40 kms away from the incident; the prosecution’s case appears weak in light of the minor’s age and consent; the bail application has been pending since 12.08.2014; detention for 61–62 days is excessive and there is no purpose to continue custodial detention; seeks regular bail with appropriate conditions.

Contentions of Respondents

The Public Prosecutor submits that the investigation is nearly complete and that if bail is granted, conditions must safeguard the interests of the prosecution and the ongoing investigation.

Cited Precedents (1)

Case NameCitationTreatmentExplanation
Asok Kumar v. State of Kerala2009(2) KLT 712PositiveThe court directs consideration of passport-related permissions with guidance from the principles laid down in Asok Kumar v. State of Kerala, illustrating the case’s influence on travel-related conditions in bail.

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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 ALEXANDER THOMAS** **TUESDAY, THE 14TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2014/22ND ASWINA, 1936** ## **Bail Appl..No. 7267 of 2014 ()** **---------------------------------------------CRIME NO. 1024/2014 OF THALIPARAMBA POLICE STATION , KANNUR** ## **PETITIONER(S)/PETITIONER/ACCUSED:** **----------------------------------------------------------------** **LIBIN T J, AGED 22 YEARS S/O JAMES, THADATHIL HOUSE, THIMIRI P.O. THIMIRI AMSOM, PACHANI, TALIPARAMBA TALUK KANNUR DISTRICT.** **BY ADVS.SRI.V.A.SATHEESH SRI.V.T.MADHAVANUNNI SRI.J.ABHILASH** ## **RESPONDENT(S)/RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT:** **--------------------------------------------------------------------------** **STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR HIGH COURT OF KERALA THROUGH S.H.O. TALIPARAMBA POLICE STATION KANNUR DISTRICT.** ## **R BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, SRI. DHANESH MATHEW MANJOORAN** **THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 14-10-2014, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:** das ## **ALEXANDER THOMAS, J.** ------------------------------------------ ## B.A. No. 7267 of 2014 -----------------------------------------Dated this the 14[th] day of October, 2014 ## **O R D E R** The petitioner, who is the accused in Crime No.1024/2014 of Taliparamba Police Station, Kannur District is the applicant, who is seeking regular bail by invoking the jurisdiction under section 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure. The offences alleged in the aforesaid crime are those under sections 366 and 376 of Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. 2. The gist of the prosecution version is that on 6.8.2014 at 3.00 pm the petitioner had procured the minor victim girl aged 17 years under the false promise that he will marry her and took her to a lodge at Ernakulam and committed rape on her and thereby committed the above said offences. The petitioner is in judicial custody since 12.08.2014. His Bail Application has been rejected as per ## **B.A. No. 7267 of 2014** **-2-** Annexure A1 order dated 22.09.2014 passed by the Sessions Court, Thalassery. 3. Sri. V.A. Satheesh, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, would submit that the petitioner is innocent of the allegations and that he is staying more than 40 Kms away from the place of the defacto complainant. The petitioner's counsel would submit that even going by the case projected by the prosecution, the defacto complainant is aged more than 17 years and therefore she is above the statutory limit of 16 years in the matter of giving of consent and that the case projected by the prosecution would show that the minor girl had sped away on her own will and the family members of the minor girl wanted to harass the petitioner and hence the case has been falsely foisted against him. 4. More importantly Sri. V.A. Satheesh, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, would submit that the ## **B.A. No. 7267 of 2014** **-3-** petitioner has been under judicial detention since 12.08.2014 and that there is no purpose to serve the interest of investigation for further detaining him in custody as he has suffered detention for the last 61 days. 5. The learned Public Prosecutor would rebut the allegations raised by the petitioner regarding his involvement in the crime and would firmly submit that the investigation is almost complete and that in case this court is inclined to grant regular bail, the same shall be conditioned to safeguard the interest of the prosecution. 6. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor and having taken into account the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, I am inclined to hold that further custodial detention of the petitioner is not necessary. More than 62 days elapsed since the petitioner has been under custodial detention. Moreover, the petitioner is a young ## **B.A. No. 7267 of 2014** **-4-** man aged 22 years. The learned Public Prosecutor would submits that this court may place a condition that the petitioner shall not enter the precincts of Taliparamba Police Station until the submission of the final report in this case, In this view of the matter, it is ordered that the petitioner shall be released on bail on his executing a bond for Rs.35,000/- (Rupees Thirty Five thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like amount to the satisfaction of the court concerned (viz. Sessions Court, Thalassery) and subject to the following conditions: i. The petitioner shall surrender his passport, if any, before the aforementioned Sessions Judge at the time of executing the bail bond and if he is not a passport holder, then he will file an affidavit to that effect in the said court. If the petitioner requires his passport for travel abroad, he is at liberty to **-5-** ## **B.A. No. 7267 of 2014** approach the local court concerned for the release of the same and for necessary permission in that regard. In case such an application is filed, the Sessions Judge is at liberty to consider the same on merits and pass appropriate orders thereon, taking sufficient guidance from the principles laid down by this Court in the case **Asok Kumar v. State of Kerala** reported in 2009(2) KLT 712, not withstanding the above said conditions imposed by this Court. ii. The petitioner shall report before the Investigating Officer in Crime No.1024/2014 of Thaliparamba Police station between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on every alternate Sundays. ## **B.A. No. 7267 of 2014** **-6-** - iii. The petitioner shall not interfere with the investigation in any manner. - iv. The petitioner shall not influence the witnesses or shall not tamper or attempt to tamper the evidence in any manner whatsoever. - v. The petitioner shall fully co-operate with the investigation and report before the aforementioned Investigating Officer as and when required by him. - vi. The petitioner shall not enter the territorial limits of the Thaliparamba Police Station until the submission of the final report in this case except for the purpose of compliance of the conditions placed in this order as stated above. ## **B.A. No. 7267 of 2014** **-7-** If the petitioner violates any of the conditions as ordered above, then the bail granted to him is liable to be cancelled. In terms of the above said directions, this Bail Application stands finally disposed of. Sd/ALEXANDER THOMAS, JUDGE //True Copy// P.A. To Judge jjj