Karnataka High Court
Maruti S/O Prahlad Sugate Alias ... vs The State Of Karnataka on 14 September, 2022
Author: Shivashankar Amarannavar
Bench: Shivashankar Amarannavar
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CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA, DHARWAD BENCH
DATED THIS THE 14TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2022
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SHIVASHANKAR AMARANNAVAR
CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 102370 OF 2022
BETWEEN:
1. MARUTI S/O PRAHLAD SUGATE @ GONDHALI
AGE. 30 YEARS, OCC. BUSINESS,
R/O. MAREMMA COLONY, HALAKARNI
TQ. KHANAPUR, DIST. BELGAVI 590 006
2. MANJUNATH S/O TUKARAM GONCHALI
AGE. 25 YRS, OCC. BUSINESS,
R/AT. VIDYA NAGAR, KHANAPUR,
TQ KHANAPUR, DIST. BELAGAVI 590 006
...PETITIONERS
(BY SRI. GOURISHANKAR H MOT, ADVOCATE)
AND:
THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
KHANAPUR POLICE STATION
DIST. BELAGAVI
REP BY ITS PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA,
DHARWAD BENCH, DHARWAD
...RESPONDENT
(BY SRI. PRASHANTH V. MOGALI, HCGP)
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED U/S 439 OF CR.P.C.,
SEEKING TO ENLARGE THE PETITIONER/ACCUSED NO.5 AND 7
ON BAIL AS ATTACHED IN KHANAPUR POLICE STATION CRIME
NO.220/2021 FOR THE OFFENCE PUNISHABLE U/S 120B, 341,
364, 388, 302, 201 R/W SECTION 34 OF IPC AND SECTION 27 OF
ARMS ACT PENDING ON THE FILE OF 8 TH ADDITIONAL DISTRICT
AND SESSIONS JUDGE, AT BELAGAVI IN S.C. NO.07/2022.
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CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION COMING ON FOR ORDERS THIS
DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER
This petition is filed by accused Nos.5 and 7
under Section 439 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Cr.P.C.', for brevity) seeking bail in Crime No.220/2021 of Khanapur Police Station registered for the offences punishable under Sections 120B, 341, 364, 388, 302 and 201 read with Section 34 of The Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the 'IPC', for brevity) and Section 27 of the Arms Act pending in S.C. No.7/2022 on the file of the learned VIII Additional District and Sessions Judge, Belagavi.
2. The case of the prosecution is that, one Smt. Nazeema, daughter of Mohammed Shaikh of Khanapur, residing at Belagavi, has filed complaint stating that, she is residing along with her son Arbaz(deceased) in a rented house at Maruti Nagar, Khanapur and her son was having love affair with -3- CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 one Shweta, who was residing near her house since one year. The family members of Shweta started giving trouble to Arbaz after knowing of their love affair and due to which, the complainant shifted to Belagavi and started residing at Azam Nagar. It is further stated that, on 26.09.2021, the family members of Shweta called the complainant and her son to Khanapur, at that time, Maharaj, Birje and father of Shweta were present and they threatened the son of the complainant stating that he has to end his love affair with Shweta stating that they belong to different communities and told to Arbaz to delete the photos of Shweta from his mobile and destroyed his SIM card and told him not to contact Shweta. The complainant and the deceased agreed and came back to Belagavi and Arbaz started using new SIM card. It is further stated that, on 28.09.2021, the complainant went to Goa to meet her relative and Arbaz was at Belagavi while coming back from Goa, she had spoken to her son Arbaz. It -4- CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 is further stated that when the complainant came back to home at 7:00pm, Arbaz was not in the house and she made phone call to him but he did not receive. At about 9:00pm, the complainant received a phone call from a Railway employee through her son's phone and informed her that dead body is lying on railway track at Khanapur and this phone was lying beside his body. Then the complainant along with her relatives went to the spot at 10:30pm and identified the dead body as of her son's and his legs were cut and neck and head were separated and body parts were lying. The complainant suspected that the father of Shweta and Maharaj have killed and thrown the dead body with a view to destroy the evidence. The said complaint came to be registered in Belagavi Railway Police Station Crime No.29/2021 against the father of Shweta (accused No.1) and accused Nos.3 and 10 for offence punishable under Sections 201 and 302 read with Section 34 of IPC. Thereafter, the complaint was transferred to the -5- CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 Khanapur Police Station and registered in Crime No.220/2021 for the aforesaid offences. The Khanapur Police arrested the petitioners/accused Nos.5 and 7 on 07.10.2021 and they are in judicial custody. After completing investigation, the Investigating Officer has filed charge sheet and the case is pending in SC No.7/2022. Petitioner No.1/accused No.5 filed Crl.Misc.589/2022 seeking bail and the same came to be dismissed by order dated 12.05.2022 and petitioner No.2/acused No.7 filed Crl.Misc. No.449/2022 seeking bail and the same came to be dismissed by the learned VIII Additional District and Sessions Judge, Belagavi. Therefore, the petitioners are before this Court seeking bail.
3. Heard the arguments of the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and the learned High Court Government Pleader for the respondent- State.
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4. The learned counsel for the petitioners would contend there are no eyewitnesses to the incident and the case of the prosecution is based on circumstantial evidence. The names of these petitioners are not mentioned as accused in the complaint and FIR. They have been implicated based on the voluntary statement of accused No.3. The presence of these petitioners is not found in the CCTV footage seized under mahazar. It is his further submission that, accused Nos.2 to 4, 6 and 7 were given to police custody on 08.10.2021 at 5:00pm and the mahazar has been drawn on the same day in the morning around 7:45am to 9:00am whereunder koyta, choori and clothes have been seized at the instance of accused Nos.4, 6 and 7. There is recovery of koyta and motor vehicle at the instance of accused No.5 under mahazar. The Doctor, who conducted postmortem examination, in reply to the questions of the Investigating Officer stated that the injuries are caused by blunt crushing force impact. -7- CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 It is his further submission that, as charge sheet is filed, the petitioners are not required for any custodial interrogation. There are no criminal antecedents of these petitioners. With this, he prayed to allow the petition.
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader would contend that the voluntary statements of these petitioners/accused Nos.5 and 7 have been recorded wherein they have specifically stated about their involvement in the murder of deceased Arbaz. There is recovery of Koyta, shirt, jeans pant and omni car at the instance of accused No.5 under mahazar. The statement of Shweta has been recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. CW-50- Muzaffar has last seen accused Nos.5, 6 and 7 who took the deceased in van on 28.09.2021 at 6:30pm. The Doctor, who conducted postmortem examination over the dead body of the deceased has noted injuries stating that injury Nos.4 and 8 are ante mortem in nature and other injuries are ante -8- CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 mortem/peri mortem in nature and cause of death is due to shock and hemorrhage as a result of multiple injuries sustained. The doctor, who conducted postmortem examination has examined the 4 weapons seized at the instance of the accused and has opined that, they can cause the injuries noted in the postmortem report and death of the deceased is due to stab injuries. The charge sheet material show prima facie case against the petitioners for the offences alleged against them. The offences committed by the petitioners and other accused is a brutal murder of the deceased Arbaz and it is punishable with death or imprisonment for life. If the petitioners are granted bail, they will tamper the prosecution witnesses and flee from justice. With this, he prayed to reject the petition.
6. Having regard to the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned High Court Government Pleader, this Court has gone through the charge sheet records. -9- CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022
7. The deceased Arbaz was done to homicidal death after decapitating the head with deadly weapons like choori, koyta etc. His body was found on the railway track near Khanapur. The postmortem report reveals that, it is a homicidal death and head was decapitated. Thereafter, the accused thrown the dead body on the railway track to project it as it was a railway accident. Investigation papers reveal that the daughter of accused Nos.1 and 2 namely Shweta had developed love affair with deceased Arbaz. The parents warned her to stop loving him and in spite of the same, she had continued to contact him physically and over phone. Therefore, accused Nos.1 and 2 decided to send their daughter Shweta-CW-47 to the house of sister of accused No.2. In the house of sister of accused No.2, Shweta again continued to talk with the deceased Arbaz over mobile phones of neighbours. Same to the knowledge of accused No.8 and his mother. Investigation papers also reveal that accused Nos.1 and 2 proposed the marriage of CW-
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CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 47-Shweta with one Manjunath, who is a software engineer. Thereafter, also CW-47 continued to talk with the deceased and this matter was brought to the notice of accused No.4, who was also belonging to Mohammedan community and he stated to have warned the deceased stating that they are from different community and in spite of the same, the deceased continued his love affair with CW-47. The deceased in spite of warning by the accused continued his contact with CW-47-Shweta. Therefore, accused Nos.1 and 2 conspired with accused Nos.8 and 9 and accused Nos.1 and 2 stated that they are ready to give supari of Rs.5,00,000/- to accused No.3 for committing murder of Arbaz. Accused No.3 received a sum of Rs.60,000/- as advance. Thereafter, they planned with accused Nos.3 and 4 to call the deceased for settling the issue. The deceased was called and accused No.3 told the deceased to pay Rs.60,000/- in the form of fine to Srirama Sena and they paid Rs.7,000/- to the
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CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 deceased which was given by CW-47-Shweta. On 28.09.2021 in furtherance of conspiracy accused Nos.1 to 3, 5 to 7 and 10, accused No.4 abducted the deceased in omni car and they committed brutal murder of deceased Arbaz. The voluntary statements of these petitones/accused Nos.5 and 7 specifically state their overt acts of assaulting the deceased with choori and koyta on the neck of the deceased. Clothes, koyta and choori have been recovered at the instance of accused Nos.4, 6 and 7 under mahazar and there is recovery of koyta and motor vehicle at the instance of accused No.5 under mahazar. The said seized koyta, choori were sent to the Doctor who has opined that, they can cause the injuries noted in the postmortem report. CW-50 Muzzafar in his statement recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. has stated that he saw accused Nos.5, 6 and 7 on 28.09.2021 at 6:30pm taking the deceased in the vehicle and thereafter, the dead body of the deceased was found at 9:30pm on the
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CRL.P No. 102370 of 2022 railway track. The deceased had sustained severe injuries. Head was decapitated and leg were amputed. The Doctor, who conducted postmortem examination over the dead body of the deceased has opined that the cause of death is due to shock and hemorrhage as a result of multiple injuries sustained. Accused No.3 and these petitioners are members of Srirama Sena. Charge sheet material show prima facie case against the petitioners for the offences alleged against them. The offences alleged against the petitioners are punishable with death or imprisonment for life. If the petitioners are granted bail, they will threaten the complainant and other prosecution witnesses. The petitioners have not made out any ground for grant of bail.
Accordingly the criminal petition is dismissed.
Sd/-
JUDGE kmv