IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 26TH DAY OF APRIL, 2019
BEFORE
THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A. PATIL
CRIMINAL PETITION NO.1647/2019
BETWEEN:
Smt. Kalavathi
W/o Sri Somanna,
Aged about 55 years,
Presently R/at
Rajarajeshwari Nagara,
I Block, II Main,
Bengaluru-560 047,
Permanent R/o
Kuyyangeri Village and Post,
Madikeri Taluk,
Kodagu-571 214. …Petitioner
(By Sri.B. L. Sanjeev, Advocate)
AND:
1. The State of Karnataka
By Madikeri Town Police Station,
Madikeri.
Rept. by the State Public Prosecutor,
High Court Building,
Bengaluru-560 001.
2. Smt. Shashikala
W/o Chirag,
Major in age,
-2-
Near Kaveri Hall,
Madikeri-571 201,
Kodagu. … Respondents
(By Sri. M. Divakar Maddur, HCGP for R-1;
R-2 is served and unrepresented)
This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 438 of
Criminal Procedure Code praying to enlarge the
petitioner on bail in the event of his arrest in Crime
No.198/2018 of Madikeri Town Police Station, Kodagu
for the offences punishable under Sections 406, Section420,
Section498A of IPC, under Sections 3(1)(R) and 3(1)(S) of the SC
and the ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and also
under Sections 3 and Section4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders, this
day, the Court made the following:
ORDER
The present petition has been filed by the
petitioner-accused No.2 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C.
praying this Court to release her on anticipatory bail in
the event of her arrest in Crime No.198/2018 of
Madikeri Town Police Station, Kodagu for the offences
punishable under Sections 406, Section420, Section498A of IPC,
under Sections 3(1)(R) and 3(1)(S) of the SC and the ST
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(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and also under
Sections 3 and Section4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for
petitioner and the learned High Court Government
Pleader for respondent-State. Though notice is served to
the complainant, she has remained absent.
3. This case is taken out of turn on the
submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that
the petitioner is suffering with hyper diabetics and she
is unable to move out of the house.
4. It is the submission of the learned counsel
for the petitioner that the petitioner-accused No.2 is
innocent and she has not committed any offence as
alleged in the complaint. A baseless complaint has been
registered against the petitioner-accused No.2. It is his
further submission that accused No.1-son of the
petitioner and accused No.3-husband of the petitioner
-4-
have been released on bail, on the ground of parity the
present petitioner is also entitled to be released on bail.
It is his further submission that the said complaint has
been registered as a private complaint, nowhere in the
complaint, a single word has been uttered with regard
to the offence said to have been committed by the
petitioner-accused No.2, as such, provisions of Section
18-A of the Scheduled Castes and SectionScheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (‘the Act’ for brevity)
are not attracted. He further submitted that a divorce
petition has been already filed in respect of the said
marriage, which is in dispute. He further submitted that
the alleged offences are not punishable with death or
imprisonment for life. The petitioner-accused No.2 is
ready to abide by any conditions that may be imposed
on her by this Court and ready to offer sureties. On
these grounds, he prayed to allow the petition and to
release the petitioner-accused No.2 on bail.
-5-
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government
Pleader vehemently argued and submitted that the
petitioner-accused No.2 has ill-treated and harassed the
complainant by demanding dowry, who is a down
trodden lady. He further submitted that the petitioner-
accused No.2 has earlier taken dowry at the time of the
marriage and subsequently, the accused persons have
demanded Rs.5,00,000/- and even inspite of pacifying
the disputes, they persistently ill-treated and harassed
the complainant. It is further submitted that the
petitioner has cheated and blackmailed a down trodden
lady, as such, there is a prima facie material as against
the petitioner-accused No.2. On these grounds, he
prayed to dismiss the petition.
6. I have carefully and cautiously gone through
the contents of the complaint and other materials,
which has been produced in this behalf.
-6-
7. By going through the contents of the
complaint and other materials, it indicates the fact that
at the time of marriage of the complainant, dowry was
given. It is alleged that subsequently, there was ill-
treatment and harassment for demand of dowry. It is
further submitted that a divorce petition has been filed,
as such, present complaint has been registered.
Whether there was any ill-treatment or harassment
committed by the accused persons, is a matter which
has to be considered and appreciated only at the time of
the trial. When the alleged offences are not punishable
with death or imprisonment for life and the petitioner-
accused No.2 being a lady, aged about 55 years, under
such circumstances, I feel by imposing some stringent
conditions, if the petitioner is enlarged on bail, then it is
going to meet the ends of justice. I have carefully
perused the private complaint, which has been filed by
the complainant before the District and Sessions Judge,
Kodagu, Madikeri, nowhere, in the said complaint, she
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has specifically urged that the petitioner-accused No.2
has abused the complainant by using the name of the
caste. Under the said facts and circumstances of the
case, the provision of Section 18-A of the Act will not be
a bar to this Court to release the petitioner-accused
No.2 on anticipatory bail.
In that light, criminal petition is allowed.
Petitioner-accused No.2 is enlarged on anticipatory bail
in the event of her arrest in Crime No.198/2018 of
Madikeri Town Police Station, Kodagu for the offences
punishable under Sections 406, Section420, Section498A of IPC,
under Sections 3(1)(R) and 3(1)(S) of the SC and the ST
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and also under
Sections 3 and Section4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961,
subject to the following conditions:
1. The petitioner shall execute a personal
bond for a sum of Rs.2,00,000/-(Rupees
Two Lakhs Only) with two sureties for the
-8-likesum to the satisfaction of the
Investigating Officer.
2. She shall surrender before the Investigating
Agency within 15 days from today.
3. She shall not tamper with the prosecution
evidence in any manner.
4. She shall mark her attendance once in 15
days between 10.00 a.m., to 5.00 p.m.,
before the concerned Police Station till the
charge sheet is filed.
5. She shall be regular in attending the Court.
6. She shall not leave the jurisdiction of the
Court without prior permission.
Sd/-
JUDGE
RB
