Karnataka High Court
Mohammed Aneez vs The State Of Karnataka on 17 November, 2020
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 17TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2020
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE B.A. PATIL
CRIMINAL PETITION NO.6019 OF 2020
BETWEEN:
Mohammed Aneez,
S/o. Abdul Latheef,
Aged about 25 years
C/o Sadik,
R/at Kandhinadka Rice ,
Nadsal Village, Padibidri
Udupi Taluk - 575 231. ... Petitioner
(By Sri. Lethif B., Advocate)
AND:
The State of Karnataka,
By Mulki Police Station,
D.K. District
Rep. by SPP,
High Court Building
Bengaluru - 560 001 ... Respondent
(By Sri. R.D.Renukaradhya, HCGP)
This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 439 of
Cr.P.C., praying to enlarge the petitioner on bail in Crime
No.139/2017 of Mulki Police Station, Mangaluru City for the
offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 120B,
448, 326, 395, 397, 414 read with Section 149 of IPC.
-2-
This Criminal Petition coming on for Orders through
video conference this day, the Court made the following:
ORDER
The present petition has been filed by the petitioner/accused No.1 under Section 439 of Cr.P.C to release him on bail in crime No. 139/2017 of Mulki Police station for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 120B, 448, 326, 395, 397, 414 r/w Section 149 of IPC.
2. I have heard the learned counsel Sri. Lethif.B for the petitioner/accused No.1 and learned HCGP Sri. R.D.Renukaradhya for respondent/State.
3. The genesis of case of the prosecution is that, on 25.10.2017 at about 1.00 pm, when the complainant was alone in her house, one unknown person came to her house to enquire about payment of current bill and went back. After five minutes, he again came back to the house of the complainant and rang -3- the door bell. When the complainant opened the door, the said youth caught hold of neck of the complainant and assaulted on the head of the complainant with one hard instrument and when complainant fell down and lost conscious, the said person took away gold Karimani sara, which was in the neck of the complainant and extorted six gold bangles, one coral gold-chain, necklace, ear stud etc. On the basis of the complaint, a case has been registered.
4. It is the submission of learned counsel for the petitioner/accused No.1 that the alleged offence has taken place on 25.10.2017 and the petitioner/accused No.1 has been apprehended in crime No.156/2017 on 30.07.2019. During the course of investigation his voluntary statement has been recorded and subsequently in the present case he has been apprehended on 22.10.2019. Prior to that the complainant has been called to the police station and he -4- has been got identified and no test identification parade was conducted as contemplated under the law. It is his further submission that no recoveries have been made from the possession of the accused/petitioner and the recoveries are at the instance of the accused No.7. It is his further submission that already accused Nos. 2, 4, and 5 have been released on bail by this Court. On the ground of parity, the petitioner/accused No.1 is also entitled to be released on bail. It is his further submission that the allegations as against the petitioner/accused No.1 is that he entered the house of the complainant along with accused Nos.2, 3 and 6 but the contents of the complaint indicates that only one person has entered the house. There are contradictions in the statement of the witnesses. The petitioner/accused No.1 is ready to abide by any of the conditions that may be imposed by this Court and ready to offer the sureties. On these grounds he prays to allow -5- the petition and to release the petitioner/accused No.1 on bail.
5. Per contra, the learned HCGP vehemently argued and submitted that the voluntary statement of the petitioner/accused No.1 clearly goes to show involvement of the petitioner/accused No.1 in the alleged crime. It is his further submission that it is petitioner/accused No.1 who has assaulted the complainant on his head with lethal weapon and also snatched gold articles and subsequently, the accused has been apprehended and he has admitted to the guilt. It is his further submission that the petitioner/accused No.1 is a habitual offender and 4 cases have been registered as against the petitioner/accused No.1. It is his further submission that if he is released on bail he may again indulge in similar type of criminal activities. On these grounds he prays to dismiss the petition. -6-
6. I have carefully and cautiously perused the submission made by the learned counsel for the parties and perused the records.
7. On perusal of the records and the contents of the complaint, it indicates that one person came and made an enquiry with regard to the payment of current bill and subsequently same person came and assaulted on the head with hard instrument and took away the gold and other articles from the possession of the complainant. But, as per the records it indicates that recoveries have been made from the possession of the accused No.7 and no recovery has been made from the possession of petitioner/accused No.1. Be that as it may, already accused No.2 under similar facts and circumstances has been released on bail in Criminal Petition No.4641/2020 by order dated 06.10.2020 and even accused No.4 has been released on bail in Criminal Petition No.3285/2020 by the co-ordinate bench of this -7- Court by order dated 05.08.2020 and the accused No.5 is released on bail by this Court in Criminal petition No.4799/2020.
8. Taking into consideration the above said facts and circumstances, on the ground of parity, the petitioner/accused No.1 is also entitled to be released on bail. Though it is contended by the learned HCGP that 4 cases have been registered, but the co-ordinate bench of this Court has released petitioner/accused in Criminal petition No.3532/2020 in crime No.156/2017.
9. In that light, the petition is entitled to be allowed. Petitioner/accused No.1 is ordered to be released on bail in Crime No.139/2017 of Mulki Police Station for the offence punishable under Section 143, 147, 148, 120B, 448, 326, 395, 397, 414 r/w Section 149 of IPC with following conditions:-
i) Petitioner/accused No.1 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of -8- Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees Two lakhs only) with two sureties for the likesum to the satisfaction of the trial Court.
ii) He shall be regular in attending the trial Court proceedings unless he is exempted by the Trial Court for good reasons.
iii) He shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Court without prior permission.
iv) He shall not threaten or tamper the prosecution evidence directly or indirectly.
v) He shall not indulge in similar type of criminal activities.
vi) He shall mark his attendance once in 15 days between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. till the trial is concluded.
vii) If any one of the conditions is violated, the bail is liable to be cancelled.
Sd/-
JUDGE RKA