Karnataka High Court
Praful S/O Mallikarjun Patil vs The State Of Karnataka on 21 December, 2021
Author: Shivashankar Amarannavar
Bench: Shivashankar Amarannavar
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA
DHARWAD BENCH
DATED THIS THE 21 S T DAY OF DECEMBER 2021
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHIVASHANKAR AMARANNAVAR
CRIMINAL PETITION NOS. 102365/2021,
102380/2021, 102382/2021, 102383/2021
Crl.P. No. 102365/2021
BETWEEN:
Iranna
S/o. Neelakantappa @
Neelkanth Divatagi
Age 19 years, Occ. Student
Resident of Talwar Owni
Gaddanakeri
Taluk & Dist. Bagalkot. ...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. MANJUNATH A. KARIGANNAVAR,
ADVOCATE)
AND:
The State of Karnataka
Through by Police Sub-Inspector
Navanagar Police Station
Bagalkot, Represented by
The State Public Prosecutor
High Court of Karnataka
Dharwad Bench
Dharwad - 580 011. ... RESPONDENT
(BY SRI. RAMESH B.CHIGARI, HCGP)
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THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED UNDER
SECTION 439 OF Cr.P.C. SEEKING TO GRANT
REGULAR BAIL TO THE PETITIONER/ACCUSED No.
4 IN BAGALKOT NAVANAGAR P.S. CRIME No.
90/2021 FOR THE OFFENCES PUNISHABLE U/S
143, 147, 363, 364(A) OF IPC PENDING BEFORE
PRINCIPAL CIVIL JUDGE (SR.DN.) AND CJM
COURT, BAGALKOT.
Crl.P. No. 102380/2021
BETWEEN:
Praful, S/o. Mallikarjun Patil
Age 19 years, Occ. Student
R/o.Saptagiri Badavane
Gaddanakeri
Bagalkot - 587 102. ...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. SRINIVAS B. NAIK, ADVOCATE)
AND:
The State of Karnataka
Rep. by State Public Prosecutor
High Court of Karnataka
Dharwad Bench
Through Navanagara Police
Station, Bagalkote - 580 011. ... RESPONDENT
(BY SRI. RAMESH B. CHIGARI, HCGP)
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED U/S. 439
OF Cr.P.C. WITH A PRAYER TO GRANT BAIL TO THE
PETITIONER ACCUSED No. 2 IN NAVANAGARA
POLICE STATION CRIME No. 90/2021 REGISTERED
FOR THE OFFENCES PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTIONS
143, 147, 363, 364(A) READ WITH SECTION 149
OF IPC.
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Crl.P. No. 102382/2021
BETWEEN:
Bhirappa
S/o. Dundappa Budihal
Age 27 years,
Occ. Driver
R/o. Saptagiri Badavane
Gaddnakeri Cross
Bagalkot. ...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. M.B. GUNDAWADE, ADVOCATE)
AND:
State of Karnataka
By State Public Prosecutor
High Court of Karnataka
Dharwad Bench, At Dharwad
Through Bagalkote
Navanagar Police Station. ... RESPONDENT
(BY SRI. RAMESH B. CHIGARI, HCGP)
---
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED U/S 439
Cr.P.C. SEEKING TO ENLARGE THE
PETITIONER/ACCUSED No. 1 ON BAIL IN
BAGALKOT TOWN CIRCLE NAVANAGAR P.S. Cr. No.
90/2021 FOR THE ALLEGED OFFENCES U/S. 143,
147, 363, 346(A) R/W. 149 OF IPC PENDING ON
THE FILE OF PRINCIPAL SENIOR CIVIL JUDGE AND
CJM COURT, BAGALKOT.
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Crl.P. No. 102383/2021
BETWEEN:
Vishwanath @ Vishya @ Dali
S/o. Suresh Kamble
Age 19 years
Occ. Student
R/o. Sector No. 42, Plot No. 31(C)
Navanagar, Bagalkote. ...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. JAGADISH PATIL, ADVOCATE)
AND:
The State of Karnataka
Through Navanagar Police
Station, R/by its
State Public Prosecutor
High Court of Karnataka Bench
At Dharwad. ... RESPONDENT
(BY SRI. RAMESH B.CHIGARI, HCGP)
---
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED U/S 439
Cr.P.C. WITH A PRAYER TO ENLARGE THE
PETITIONER/ACCUSED No. 5 ON BAIL IN
CONNECTION WITH NAVANAGAR P.S. CRIME No.
90/2021 FOR OFFENCES PUNISHABLE U/S. 143,
147, 363 AND 364A R/W 149 OF IPC WITH
RESPECT TO THE PETITIONER.
THESE CRIMINAL PETITIONS COMING ON FOR
ORDERS THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE
FOLLOWING:
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ORDER
Crl.P. No. 102365/2021 is filed by accused No. accused No. 4, Crl.P. No. 102380/2021 is filed by accused No. 2, Crl.P. No. 102382/2021 is filed by accused No.1 and Crl.P. No. 102383/2021 is filed by accused No. 5. All these petitions are filed by petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 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. of 90/2021 of Navanagar Police Station, Bagalkot, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 363, 364(A) read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the 'IPC', for brevity).
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2. It is the case of the prosecution that one Anil (maternal uncle of the victim) had borrowed loan from accused No. 1 and he had not repaid the said amount to accused No.1. The accused persons have made a conspiracy to kidnap any family member of the said family of Anil to recover the said loan amount. On 27.10.2021 when the victim girl aged 7 years was returning to her house after attending tuition class, the accused persons have kidnapped the victim girl in a car bearing No. KA29-N-2073 and took her to Hubballi. On the way to Hubballi, accused Nos. 1 and 3 have contacted the uncle of the victim girl i.e., Anil over phone and demanded money for her release. The mother of the victim girl has lodged a complaint in that regard which came to be registered in crime No. 90/2021 for the 7 offence punishable under Sections 143, 147, 363, 364(A) read with Section 149 of IPC against unknown persons. On 28.10.2021 the accused persons have brought the victim girl to Navanagar and left her near her house. During the course of investigation the Investigating Officer has arrested accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and
5. The accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 have filed bail applications and they came to be rejected by the Sessions Court. Therefore, the accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 are before this Court seeking bail.
3. Heard the learned counsel appearing for petitioners-accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 and the learned High Court Government Pleader for the respondent - State.
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4. It would be contention of the learned counsel appearing for petitioners-accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 that the alleged kidnap is on 27.10.2021 and the victim girl has returned to her house on 28.10.2021. FIR is registered against unknown persons, even though the victim girl's brother knows accused No.1. It is their further submission that false complaint came to be lodged against the accused persons only in order to get over repayment of the loan borrowed by Anil as accused No. 1 was insisting for repayment of the money borrowed. There is no suspicion on any person in the complaint. Except the vehicle there is no recovery from the accused. There are no eye witnesses to the alleged kidnap even though it has taken place on a public road. The accused have been implicated only on the basis of their 9 voluntary statement. The accused were arrested since long, i.e., in the last week of October 2021 and they are not required for any custodial interrogation. With this they prayed to allow the petitions.
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader has contended that the offence alleged is kidnap for ransom and it is punishable with death or imprisonment for life. One of the accused, i.e. accused No. 3 is having criminal antecedent and he is a friend of petitioners-accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5. The statement of the victim girl has been recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. and she has stated that six persons have kidnapped her. It is his further submission that TI parade is yet to be conducted and investigation is still in progress and if at this stage the petitioners are 10 granted bail, they will hamper the investigation, tamper the prosecution witnesses and flee from justice. With this, he prayed to reject the petitions.
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 FIR, complaint and remand applications.
7. One Anil, as per averments made in the complaint, is stated to have borrowed money from accused No.1. The accusation leveled against petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 is that in order to recover the loan amount they kidnapped the victim girl aged 7 years who is the daughter of maternal uncle of said Anil. The victim girl who is stated to have 11 been kidnapped on 27.10.2021 has come back to her house on 28.10.2021. The statement of the victim girl has already been recorded. The petitioners are in custody for more than 1 month and 20 days. The learned High Court Government Pleader has contended that TI parade is yet to be conducted. TI parade ought to have been conducted at the earliest. As major portion of the investigation is over, the petitioners are not required for any custodial interrogation. There are no criminal antecedents of petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5. The main objection of the prosecution is that if the petitioners are granted bail they will hamper the investigation, tamper the prosecution witnesses and flee from justice. The said objection can be met with by imposing stringent conditions.
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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 to the petitioners-accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 subject to certain terms and conditions. Hence, I proceed to pass the following:
ORDER All the four petition filed under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. are allowed. Consequently, the petitioners - accused Nos.1, 2, 4 and 5 shall be released on bail in Crime No. 90/2021 of Navanagar Police Station subject to the following conditions:
i) The petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4
and 5 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only) each with one surety 13 for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.ii) The petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4
and 5 shall remain present before the concerned Police Station on every Sunday between 10.00 am to 02.00 pm and mark their presence for a period of two months or till the filing of the final report which ever is earlier.
iii) The petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 shall cooperate with the investigation and make themselves available for interrogation whenever required.
iv) The petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 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 him from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any Police Officer.14
v) The petitioners - accused Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 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 LRS