IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R.BASANT TUESDAY, THE 22ND JANUARY 2008 / 2ND MAGHA 1929 Bail Appl..No. 178 of 2008() ---------------------------- CRIME NO.638/07 OF MEDICAL COLLEGE POLICE STATION. .................... PETITIONER: A2: -------------------- SHAJAN, AGE 35, S/O.ESSAI, T.C.2/1955, GOWREESHAPATTOM P.O., THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. BY ADV. SRI.SASTHAMANGALAM S. AJITHKUMAR SRI.SHAJIN S.HAMEED RESPONDENTS: ------------- THE SUB INSPECTOR OF POLICE, MEDICAL COLLEGE POLICE STATION REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI. S.U. NAZAR. THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 22/01/2008, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: R. BASANT, J. ------------------------------------------------- B.A. No. 178 OF 2008 ------------------------------------------------- Dated this the 22nd day of January, 2008 ORDER Application for anticipatory bail. The petitioner has now come on the array of accused as the 4th accused. At the moment, the allegations are raised against 4 accused persons. The crime is registered alleging offences punishable, inter alia, under Secs.457 and 325 read with Sec.34 of the IPC. Three persons, identifiable on sight, are the persons arrayed in the F.I.R. The de facto complainant is a religious Pastor by profession. His son was involved in an earlier incident and a crime has been registered in respect of that incident as Crime No.316/07 of the Trivandrum Cantonment Police Station. 8 persons are arrayed as accused and the petitioner herein is one among them. Accused 1 to 3 in this case are also arrayed as accused in that former crime. B.A. No. 178 OF 2008 -: 2 :- 2. The crux of the allegations which are raised against the accused persons in this crime is that after the earlier crime, not satisfied with what they had done against the son of the de facto complainant in that incident, they allegedly came to the house of the de facto complainant, enquired about his son and on being told that the son of the de facto complainant was not available in the house, they attacked the de facto complainant and caused injuries to him. A crime has been registered. Investigation is in progress. 3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that though there is no whisper of an allegation even in the F.I.R. of the involvement of any fourth person in the crime, the petitioner has unnecessarily been arrayed as the 4th accused in addition to the 3 persons already referred to in the F.I.R. That is a vexatious inclusion. The petitioner does not deserve to endure the trauma of such arrest and incarceration. He may be granted anticipatory bail subject to any appropriate conditions, prays the learned counsel for the petitioner. 4. The learned Public Prosecutor opposes the application. The learned Public Prosecutor submits that though only three persons had actually entered the house of the de facto complainant and indulged in the overt acts, investigation reveals B.A. No. 178 OF 2008 -: 3 :- that the 4th accused was also available outside the house and he was waiting outside the house while the three miscreants went inside the house and indulged in the overt act. The petitioner is such 4th person, alleges the Investigator. Called upon to apprise this Court of the specific material which is available, the learned Public Prosecutor draws my attention to the statement of one Shibu. 5. I have gone through the allegations in the First Information Statement. I have gone through the statement of the victim/the de facto complainant/injured. I have gone through the statement of the wife of the de facto complainant. I have gone through the statement of the said Shibu. I shall not embark of any detailed discussions about the acceptability of the allegations or the credibility of the data collected. Suffice it to say that having considered the nature of the allegations now raised against the petitioner and the nature of the materials relied on in support of such allegations, I am persuaded to agree that anticipatory bail can be granted to the petitioner herein subject to appropriate conditions which shall ensure the interests of a fair, efficient and expeditious investigation. 6. In the result, this petition is allowed. Following directions are issued in favour of the petitioner/the 4th accused B.A. No. 178 OF 2008 -: 4 :- under Sec.438 of the Cr.P.C: (i) The petitioner shall appear before the learned Magistrate having jurisdiction at 11 a.m. on 29/1/08. He shall be released on regular bail on his executing a bond for Rs.50,000/- with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the learned Magistrate. (ii) The petitioner shall make himself available for interrogation before the Investigating Officer between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on 30/1/08 and 31/1/08. During this period the Investigator shall be at liberty to interrogate the petitioner in custody and take all necessary steps for the proper conduct of the investigation. Thereafter the petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer on all Mondays between 10 a.m. and 12 noon for a period of one month. Subsequently, he shall so make himself available for interrogation before the Investigating Officer as and when directed by the Investigating Officer in writing to do so. (iii) If the petitioner does not appear before the learned Magistrate as directed in clause (i), directions issued above shall thereafter stand revoked and the police shall be at liberty to arrest the petitioner and deal with him in accordance with law as if these directions were not issued at all; B.A. No. 178 OF 2008 -: 5 :- (iv) If the petitioner were arrested prior to his surrender on 29/1/08 as directed in clause (i) above, he shall be released on his executing a bond for Rs.50,000/- without any sureties undertaking to appear before the learned Magistrate on 29/1/08. Sd/- (R. BASANT, JUDGE) Nan/ //true copy// P.S. to Judge