IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R.BASANT FRIDAY, THE 15TH FEBRUARY 2008 / 26TH MAGHA 1929 Bail Appl..No. 692 of 2008() ---------------------------- CRIME NO.632/07 OF VATANAPPILLY POLICE STATION : PETITIONERS/ACCUSED ------------------------------------ 1. LENIN BABU, AGED 42 YEARS, S/O.CHENAPPAKUTTY, VADAKKUM THALA VEETTIL, ENGANDIYOOR, THRISSUR DISTRICT. 2. THANKAMANI, AGED 65 YEARS, W/O.CHENAPPAKKUTTY, VADAKKUM THALA VEETTIL, ENGANDIYOOR, THRISSUR DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI.RAJIT SRI.RANJIT BABU RESPONDENTS: STATE ------------------ STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM. BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI.S.U.NAZAR THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 15/02/2008, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: R.BASANT, J ------------------------------------ B.A.No.692 of 2008 ------------------------------------- Dated this the 15th day of February, 2008 ORDER Application for anticipatory bail. Petitioners are the husband of the defacto complainant and his mother. They face allegations under Section 498 A I.P.C. The marriage between the spouses took place on 07.02.99. A period of 7 years has already elapsed. The spouses are blessed with 2 children, aged about 8 and 5 years. The crime has been registered on the basis of a statement given by the victim/defacto complainant while she was admitted in the hospital consequent to an alleged futile attempt to commit suicide. She was taken to the hospital after she consumed some poisonous seeds and started vomiting. At the hospital she was treated. She gave a statement to the doctor that she made an attempt to commit suicide unable to withstand the cruelty of the petitioners. Crime has been registered. Investigation is in progress. The petitioners apprehend imminent arrest. 2. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are innocent. The wife/victim faced depression in life. She was frustrated with the world around her. She had no B.A.No.692 of 2008 2 serious intention to commit suicide also. At any rate, it cannot be held by any stretch of imagination that any particular act of cruelty on the part of the petitioners had led the defacto complainant to allegedly attempt to commit suicide. There has been strain in the matrimony. There has been some disputes about the custody of the child. The defacto complainant had, in these circumstances, allegedly resorted to the imprudent act of consuming some poisonous seeds. The petitioners may not be subjected to the trauma of arrest and incarceration for this reason. That would foreclose all possibility of a harmonious resolution of the matrimonial disputes. Attempts in that directions are already afoot, it is submitted. 3. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners will abide by any terms and conditions, but anticipatory bail may be granted to them. 4. The learned Public Prosecutor does not oppose the application for anticipatory bail. The learned Public Prosecutor only prays that appropriate conditions may be imposed in the interests of a fair, efficient and expeditious investigation. 5. I have considered all the relevant inputs. The case diary has been placed before me for my perusal. I reckon the B.A.No.692 of 2008 3 stand taken by the learned Public Prosecutor to be fair, just and reasonable. In coming to the conclusion that the petitioners can be granted bail, the reality that arrest and incarceration of the petitioners is likely to close the doors permanently for any possibility of a harmonious settlement of the disputes does weigh with me. I also take note of the admitted circumstance that there has been no specific instance of any bodily injury etc. suffered by the defacto complainant at any point of time to probabilise the allegations of physical cruelty raised against the petitioners. Appropriate conditions can of course imposed. 6. In the result, the Bail Application is, allowed. The following directions are issued under Section 438 Cr.P.C. i) The petitioners shall appear before the learned Magistrate at 11 a.m on 22.02.08. They shall be enlarged on regular bail on their executing bonds for Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five thousand only) each with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the learned Magistrate; ii) The petitioners shall make themselves available for interrogation before the Investigating Officer between 10 a.m and 4 p.m on 23.02.08 and 24.02.08 and thereafter between 10 a.m and 12 noon on all Mondays and Fridays for a period of 2 months. B.A.No.692 of 2008 4 Subsequently the petitioners shall make themselves available for interrogation before the Investigating Officer as and when directed by the Investigating Officer in writing to do so; iii) If the petitioners do 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 petitioners and deal with them in accordance with law as if those directions were not issued at all; iv) If the petitioners were arrested prior to their surrender on 22.02.08 as directed in clause (1) above, they shall be released from custody on their executing a bond for Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five thousand only) each without any sureties undertaking to appear before the learned Magistrate on 22.02.08. (R.BASANT, JUDGE) rtr/-