Karnataka High Court
Ajitkumar S/O. Kadappa Chougala vs The State Of Karnataka on 22 December, 2021
Author: Shivashankar Amarannavar
Bench: Shivashankar Amarannavar
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA
DHARWAD BENCH
DATED THIS THE 22 n d DAY OF DECEMBER 2021
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHIVASHANKAR AMARANNAVAR
CRIMINAL PETITION NO.102394/2021
BETWEEN:
AJITKUMAR S/O. K ADAPPA CHOUGALA
AGE. 59 YEARS ,
OCC. GOV ERNMENT TEACHER
R/O. HULLOLLI VILLAGE,
TQ. HUKKERI , BELAGAVI
NOW AT D URGA N AGAR
I.M.A .HALL, GOKA K
DIST. BELAGAVI- 591307
...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. K.L. PATI L, ADVOCAT E)
AND:
THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
THROUGH YAMAKANAMARADI P.S .- 591246
NOW REPRES ENTED BY S PP
HIGH COURT OF K ARNATAKA BENCH AT DHARWAD
... RES PONDENT
(BY SRI. RAMESH B.CHI GARI, HCGP)
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED U/S 439 OF
CR.P.C., SEEKING TO ALLOW THE CRIMINAL PETITION
AND ENLARGE T HE PETITIONER/ACCUSED N O.1 ON
REGULAR BAI L IN CON NECTION WIT H
YAMAKANAMARADI P.S. CRIM E NO.189/2021
REGISTERED F OR THE OFFENCE PUN ISHABLE U/S 302,
201, 364,120B, R/W 34 OF IPC ON THE FILE OF THE
PRINCIPA L CIVIL JUDGE (JR.DN) A ND JMFC COURT ,
HUKKERI.
2
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION COMING ON FOR
ORDERS THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE
FOLLOWING:
ORDER
Accused No.1 has filed this petition 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.189/2021 of Yamakanamardi Police Station registered for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 201, 364 and 120B read with Section 34 of The Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the 'IPC', for brevity).
2. The case of the prosecution is that, on 01.10.2021 one Ajit Shivanand Bhushi submitted a report to the PSI stating that a dead body of 42-45 years was found in Ghataprabha River water in the limits of Ghodageri village on 01.10.2021 and therefore 3 the complainant registered the same in UD No.32/2021 and submitted FIR to the Tahasildar, Hukkeri, and started investigation. On 02.10.2021, accused No.1-Ajitkumar identified the dead body stating that the said dead body is of his younger brother Bahubali Khadappa Chogala in the mobile Whatsapp and therefore the postmortem was conducted and on the basis of the postmortem report and the provisional opinion for the cause of death, the complainant came to know that the said Bahubali was assaulted with a weapon on abdomen and head and thereby he died. Though it was informed to the relatives of the deceased, none came forward to file the complaint and therefore, the PSI filed the complaint on behalf of the Government alleging that in between 12:00 at night on 28.09.2021 4 and 7:00am on 01.10.2021, some persons murdered said Bahubali by assaulting with some weapon on his abdomen and head and threw the dead body at Ghataprabha river water with intent to destroy the evidence of murder. The said complaint came to be registered in Crime No.189/2021 in Yamakanamaradi Police Station for the offences under Sections 302 and 201 of IPC against unknown persons. During the course of investigation on 18.10.2021, accused No.1- Ajitkumar was arrested and on enquiry he disclosed that since the deceased being his younger brother used to harass him and his parents by assaulting in intoxication state and used to threaten the workers coming to work in his land and he used to demand money from his parents. Therefore, he has given supari to 5 accused Rama @ Ramappa and Arun for murdering said Bahubali. In the enquiry, the said Rama and Arun disclosed that they murdered said Bahubali by receiving supari from accused No.1 and by receiving advance supari money of Rs.1,00,000/-. The petitioner filed Criminal Miscellaneous No.5692/2021 seeking bail and the same came to be rejected by the learned VII Additional District and Sessions Judge, Belagavi sitting at Chikkodi by order dated 27.11.2021. Therefore, the petitioner is before this Court seeking bail.
3. Heard the arguments of the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader for the respondent-State.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner would contend that the name of the petitioner 6 is not mentioned in the complaint and the FIR. The petitioner came to be implicated on the basis of his voluntary statement. There are no material to connect this petitioner with the alleged crime except his voluntary statement. The petitioner is a Government School teacher, aged 59 years and he under went right total knee replacement on 21.08.2021 and he has to undergo further treatment for the same. The accusation levelled against the petitioner is that he gave supari to kill his brother Bahubali to accused Nos.2 and 3. There is no overt act alleged against the petitioner. The petitioner is ready to co-operate with the Police in the investigation. There are no criminal antecedents of the petitioner. With this, he prayed for allowing the petition. 7
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader contended that, the offences alleged against the petitioners are heinous offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life. Investigation is still in progress and if, at this stage, the petitioner is granted bail, he will hamper the investigation and tamper the prosecution witnesses. The petitioner is alleged to have given supari to accused Nos.2 and 3 to commit murder of his own brother-Bahubali. With this, he prayed to reject the petition.
6. Having regard to the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader, this Court has gone through the FIR, complaint and remand application. 8
7. The accusation levelled against the petitioner is that he gave supari to accused Nos.2 and 3 to kill his brother-Bahubali and paid advance supari money of Rs.1,00,000/-.
There are no allegations of the petitioner/accused No.1 committing murder of his brother-Bahubali. The allegations are against accused Nos.2 and 3 of committing the murder of Bahubali. The petitioner is in judicial custody since 18.10.2021. Therefore, he is not required for custodial interrogation. The petitioner has undertaken to co-operate with the police in the investigation. The petitioner is aged 59 years. He is working as a Government School teacher and he can be secured easily for investigation and trial. The petitioner, as per the certificate issued by the KLE hospital, has undergone total knee 9 replacement on 21.08.2021 and he has to undergo further treatment. The main objection of the prosecution is that, if the petitioner is granted bail, he will hamper the investigation and tamper the prosecution witnesses. The said objection can be met with by imposing stringent conditions.
8. In the facts and circumstances of the case and submission of the counsel, this Court is of the view that there are valid grounds for granting bail subject to certain terms and conditions. Hence, I proceed to pass the following:
ORDER The petition filed under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. is allowed. Consequently, the petitioner/accused No.1 shall be released on bail in Crime No.189/2021 of Yamakanamaradi 10 Police Station subject to the following conditions:
i) The petitioner/accused No.1 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only) with one surety for the likesum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.
ii) The petitioner/accused No.1 shall not indulge in hampering the investigation and tampering the prosecution witnesses.
iii) The petitioner/accused No.1 shall co-
operate in the investigation and make himself available for interrogation whenever called for.
iv) The petitioner/accused No.1 shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any witness acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade 11 him from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any Police Officer.
v) The petitioner/accused No.1 shall not obstruct or hamper the police investigation and not to play mischief with the evidence collected or yet to be collected by the police.
Sd/-
JUDGE kmv