IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V
THURSDAY, THE 21ST DAY OF FEBRUARY 2019 / 2ND PHALGUNA, 1940
Bail Appl..No. 8676 of 2018
CRIME NO. 871/2018 OF Kodungallur Police Station, Thrissur
Revenue District
PETITIONER/ACCUSED:
PRAJEESH V.P., AGED 40 YEARS,
S/O.PRAKASHAN, VADASSERI, KANDAMKULAM P.O.,
METHALA.
BY ADV. SRI.A.S.DHEERAJ
RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT:
STATE OF KERALA,
REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM-682 031.
BY SENIOR PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI. AMJAD ALI
THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 21.02.2019,
THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
Bail Appl..No. 8676 of 2018
2
ORDER
This application is filed under Section 438 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure.
2. The applicant herein is the 1 st accused in Crime No.871 of
2018 of the Kodungallur Police Station. In the aforesaid Crime, he is
accused of having committed offence punishable under Sections 498A
306 r/w Section 34 of the IPC.
3. The applicant had married one Renuka in the year 2016 and
they have a minor son, who is now aged one year. On 23.09.2018,
while the applicant was not at home, she entered the bathroom and
poured kerosene over her body and set herself ablaze. The mother of
the applicant was tending to the minor child. On hearing the cries of
her daughter-in-law, she made an attempt to save her. Renuka, the
applicant’s mother, and the child sustained burn injuries. Renuka
succumbed to the injuries immediately thereafter and her child died
due to infections while undergoing treatment. The mother of the
applicant is still in the Intensive Care Unit. Based on the information
furnished by the father of the deceased, a crime was initially
registered under Section 174 of the Cr.P.C.
Bail Appl..No. 8676 of 2018
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4. In the statement furnished by the father of the deceased,
no specific instances of cruelty or harassment meted out to the
deceased by the applicant were mentioned. However, in the course of
investigation, the relatives of the deceased gave statement to the
police that the life of Renuka was miserable and the applicant and his
mother had ill-treated her by demanding dowry.
5. The learned counsel appearing for the applicant would
submit that the deceased was earlier married to some other man and
this was her second marriage. No sums of money was demanded or
accepted by the applicant. According to the learned counsel, the
deceased was residing with him for the past few years and except for
trivial bickering between the parties, there was no circumstance
warranting the deceased to take her own life. He contends that the
records would not reveal any wrongdoing on the part of the applicant.
He points out that there has to be a clear mens rea to commit an
offence and that there ought to be an active or direct act leading the
deceased to commit suicide. The learned counsel refers to the cases
reported in Sanju @ Sanjay Singh Sengar v. State of M.P. [2002
SCC (Crl) 1141], Dr.Krishnadas.P (Dr.) (Adv) v. State of Kerala
and Another (2017 (2) KLT 579) and Gurcharan Singh v. State of
Punjab (2016 (12) SCALE 414) to buttress his submissions.
Bail Appl..No. 8676 of 2018
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6. Heard the learned Public Prosecutor and I have gone
through the case diary. The applicant was not at home when the
incident took place. The 2 nd accused is none other than the mother of
the applicant and she has also sustained serious injuries. Going
through the statement of the witnesses, except for vague allegations,
none of the near relatives have a case that the applicant or his mother
had subjected the deceased to cruelty and harassment and it was of
such a nature to drive the deceased to commit suicide. To attract an
offence under Section 306 of the IPC, there has to be a clear mens rea
to commit an offence and that there ought to be an active or direct act
leading the deceased to commit suicide. Having gone through the
materials on record, it does not appear to me that the custodial
interrogation of the applicant is necessary for an effective investigation
in the instant case.
In the result, this application will stand allowed. The applicant
shall appear before the Investigating Officer within ten days from
today and shall undergo interrogation. Thereafter, if he is proposed to
be arrested, he shall be released on bail on his executing a bond for
Rs.40,000/- (Rupees Forty thousand only) with two solvent sureties
each for the like sum. However, the above order shall be subject to
the following conditions:
Bail Appl..No. 8676 of 2018
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(i) The applicant shall co-operate with the investigation and
shall appear before the Investigating Officer on every
Saturdays between 9 A.M and 11 A.M. for a period of two
months or till final report is filed whichever is earlier.
ii) He shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement,
threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of
the case so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such
facts to the court or to any police officer.
iii) He shall not commit any similar offence while on bail.
In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional
Court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation,
if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.
Sd/-
RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V.,
JUDGE
//TRUE COPY// P.A TO JUDGE
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