IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R.BASANT WEDNESDAY, THE 4TH JUNE 2008 / 14TH JYAISHTA 1930 Crl.MC.No. 2115 of 2008() ------------------------- CC.307/1998 of JUDL.MAGISTRATE OF FIRST CLASS, PARAVOOR .................... PETITIONER: ------------ KURSHEEDA SRAJ, PROPRIETRIX, NISHANA OIL MILLS, BEACH NORTH, KOLLAM-6, KOLLAM DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI. K.SIJU RESPONDENTS: ------------- STATE OF KERALA, REP. BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM. BY P.P. SRI.K.C. SANTHOSH KUMAR. THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 04/06/2008, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: R. BASANT, J. ------------------------------------------------- Crl.M.C. No. 2115 of 2008 ------------------------------------------------- Dated this the 4th day of June, 2008 ORDER The petitioner – a woman, faced indictment in a prosecution under Sec.138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The said case was registered in 1998. After trial, the petitioner was found not guilty and acquitted. The complainant preferred an appeal and the appeal was allowed and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration. The petitioner has not entered appearance thereafter. Reckoning the petitioner as an absconding accused, coercive processes have been issued against the petitioner. The petitioner apprehends imminent arrest. 2. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner is absolutely innocent. Her absence earlier was not wilful or deliberate. She had not received any notice, Crl.M.C. No. 2115 of 2008 -: 2 :- process or summons from the court. She was ignorant of the continuance of the proceedings against her. It is, in these circumstances, that the petitioner did/could not appear before the learned Magistrate. The petitioner, in these circumstances, wants to surrender before the learned Magistrate and seek regular bail. The petitioner apprehends that her application for regular bail may not be considered by the learned Magistrate on merits, in accordance with law and expeditiously. It is, in these circumstances, that the petitioner has come to this Court for a direction to the learned Magistrate to release her on bail when he appears before the learned Magistrate. 3. It is for the petitioner to appear before the learned Magistrate and explain to the learned Magistrate the circumstances under which she could not earlier appear before the learned Magistrate. I have no reason to assume that the learned Magistrate would not consider the petitioner's application for regular bail on merits, in accordance with law and expeditiously. No special or specific directions appear to be necessary. Every court must do the same. Sufficient general directions on this aspect have already been issued in the decision reported in Alice George v. Deputy Superintendent of Police (2003 (1) KLT 339). Crl.M.C. No. 2115 of 2008 -: 3 :- 4. In the result, this bail application is dismissed; but with the observation that if the petitioner surrenders before the learned Magistrate and seeks bail, after giving sufficient prior notice to the Prosecutor in charge of the case, the learned Magistrate must proceed to pass appropriate orders on merits and expeditiously – on the date of surrender itself. Sd/- (R. BASANT, JUDGE) Nan/ //true copy// P.S. to Judge