IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K.T.SANKARAN MONDAY, THE 9TH NOVEMBER 2009 / 18TH KARTHIKA 1931 Bail Appl..No. 6622 of 2009 CRIME NO.391 OF 2009 OF VARANTHARAPPILLY POLICE STATION PETITIONER/ACCUSED NO.8 ------------------------------------------- ANIL, S/O.GOPALAN, VATHERIPARAMBIL HOUSE, NADAVARAMBU, VELOOKKARA, MUKUNDAPURAM TALUK, THRISSUR DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI.V.BINOY RAM RESPONDENT: COMPLAINANT -------------------------- STATE OF KERALA, REP. BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI.M.S.BREEZ THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 09/11/2009, ALONGWITH B.A.NO.6497 OF 2009 AND CONNECTED CASES, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: K.T.SANKARAN, J. ------------------------------------------------------ B.A. NOS.6497, 6513, 6502, 6526, 6527, 6451, 6622 and 6504 of 2009 ------------------------------------------------------ Dated this the 9th day of November,2009 O R D E R These Bail Applications are filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by some of the accused persons in Crime No.391 of 2009 of Varantharappilly Police Station. The offences alleged against them are under Sections 465, 471, 474, 475 and 476 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. 2. The number of the Bail Application, rank of the accused persons, names of the accused persons and date of their arrest are shown below: B.A. NOS.6497OF 2009 AND CONNECTED CASES :: 2 :: Number of the Bail Application Rank of the accused Name of the accused Date of arrest B.A. 6497 of 2009 A11 Murali 1-10-2009 B.A. 6513 of 2009 A12 Joshy @ Thomas 1-10-2009 B.A. 6502 of 2009 A7 Babu, son of Ananthan 19-9-2009 B.A. No. 6526 of 2009 ------------------- B.A.No.6527 of 2009 ------------------- B.A.NO.6451 of 2009 A2 ------------------ A3, A4, A9 ------------------ A6 Babu, son of Anthony ------------------------ Vinodan Kamaludeen Venugopal ------------------------ Raghunandanan 18-9-2009 ------------------ 18-9-2009 ------------------ 18-9-2009 B.A. No. 6622 of 2009 A8 Anil 18-9-2009 B.A. No. 6504 of 2009 A10 Lijo 19-9-2009 3. The case of the prosecution is the following: On 17-9-2009, the Circle Inspector of Police, Pudukkad got secret information that forged driving licences are kept for sale by Rafi alias Kunhumon, the B.A. NOS.6497OF 2009 AND CONNECTED CASES :: 3 :: first accused, in the quarters at Chimmini Irrigation Dam. Search was conducted at the quarters. 20 driving licences, school certificates, electoral identity cards, photocopies of passports, passport size photographs of 29 persons, slips of papers showing the address of different persons and Rs. 12,000/- were seized. It was revealed that the driving licences and other documents were forged ones intended to be sold to the required persons. It was revealed that the forged driving licences were given by Babu, the second accused. 4. Investigation revealed that the other accused persons were also involved in the offences. The second accused is the person who supplied the forged and counterfeited driving licences to the first accused. The third accused made the driving licences at the residence of the 2nd accused. The fourth accused forged the signatures in the driving licences. Accused Nos.6 and 9 were engaged in the sale of forged driving licences. Accused No.7 counterfeited the seal of Regional Transport office. Accused No.8 is the canvassing agent. Accused No.10, a photographer, got the print outs. Accused Nos.11 and 12 are auto consultants on whose request, the counterfeiting and forgery took place. It is alleged that B.A. NOS.6497OF 2009 AND CONNECTED CASES :: 4 :: the accused persons acted as a team for commission of the offences. 5. Investigation revealed that forged driving licences were being given to the needy persons. In some cases, driving licences of Regional Transport Offices in other States were also forged and the change of address of the licence holder was effected by committing forgery. It is revealed that in the whole exercise, no application was submitted by any person in the Regional Transport Office, no fee was paid and the Regional Transport Office was never involved in the issue of licence or in effecting the change of address in the licence. In other words, the allegation is that the accused persons acted as if they were running a parallel Regional Transport Office. It is alleged that all the necessary documents and seals were manufactured, forged and counterfeited by the accused persons. 6. The Bail Applications filed by the petitioners were dismissed as per Annexure 3 order dated 26.10.2009. 7. The Bail Applications are vehemently opposed by the learned Public Prosecutors, namely, M.S.Breez and Tekchand. It is B.A. NOS.6497OF 2009 AND CONNECTED CASES :: 5 :: submitted that accused Nos.5 and 13 are yet to be arrested. Learned Public Prosecutors submitted that the offences are very serious in nature and, therefore, the accused persons are not liable to be released on bail at this stage of the investigation. 8. The offences are grave in nature. It is also necessary to curb the alleged illegal activities of the accused persons. That does not mean that the accused persons should be detained in custody for an indefinite period before trial. There are methods by which the activities of the accused persons can be monitored. Stringent conditions also could be imposed while granting bail to ensure, to a great extent, that the accused persons do not indulge in illegal activities. 9. Taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case, the duration of the judicial custody undergone by the petitioners, the nature of the offences and the present stage of investigation, I am of the view that bail can be granted to the petitioners. 10. The petitioners shall be released on bail on their executing B.A. NOS.6497OF 2009 AND CONNECTED CASES :: 6 :: bond for Rs.50,000/- each with two solvent sureties for the like amount (who own immovable properties and who produce title deeds of the properties to be kept in Court till the disposal of the case) to the satisfaction of the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class, Irinjalakuda, subject to the following conditions: a) The petitioners shall report before the investigating officer between 9 A.M. and 11 A.M. on all Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for a period of three months and on all Mondays thereafter, till the final report is filed or until further orders; b) The petitioners shall appear before the investigating officer for interrogation as and when required; c) The petitioners shall not try to influence the prosecution witnesses or tamper with the evidence; d) The petitioners shall not commit any offence or indulge in any prejudicial activity while on bail; e) In case of breach of any of the conditions mentioned above, the bail shall be liable to be cancelled. The sureties shall also produce encumbrance certificates in respect of the properties shown in the title deeds to ensure that the properties are not encumbered. The Bail Applications are allowed as above. (K.T.SANKARAN) Judge ahz/