Karnataka High Court
Gopalsingh S/O Somasingh Hajare vs The State Of Karnataka on 24 November, 2022
Author: Shivashankar Amarannavar
Bench: Shivashankar Amarannavar
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CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA, DHARWAD BENCH
DATED THIS THE 24TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2022
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SHIVASHANKAR AMARANNAVAR
CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 103507 OF 2022
BETWEEN:
1. GOPALSINGH S/O SOMASINGH HAJARE
AGE. 28 YEARS, OCC. COOLIE,
R/O. ATTIKOLLA, STATION, ROAD,
DANU NAGAR, DHARWAD.
2. SARASWATI W/O YALLAPPA HAGEDAR
AGE. 35 YEARS, OCC. VEGETABLE VENDOR,
R/O. GONGADIKOPPA VILLAGE,
TQ. AND DIST. DHARWAD
3. KARTIK S/O DINESH KAYAST
AGE. 28 YEARS, OCC. AUTO DRIVER,
R/O. MARATA COLONY,
NEAR DURGADEVI TEMPLE, DHARWD.
4. CHIDANAND S/O PRAKASH KORI
AGE. 21 YEARS, OCC. HAIR CUTTING SOLON,
R/O. MALAMADDI, DHARWAD.
5. NINGAPPA S/O BASAVARAJ TENGINKAI
AGE. 30 YEARS, OCC. PRIVATE SERVICE,
R/O. RAVIVAR PETH ONI,
HEBBALLI AGASI, DHARWAD
...PETITIONERS
(BY SRI. K M SHIRALLI.,ADVOCATE)
AND:
THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
THROUGH DHARWAD RURAL POLICE,
R/BY STATE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
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CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022
HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA,
BENCH DHARWAD
...RESPONDENT
(BY SRI. PRASHANTH V. MOGALI, HCGP)
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED U/S 439 OF CR.P.C.,
SEEKING TO ORDER THE RELEASE OF THESE
PETITIONERS/ACCUSED NO.1 TO 4 AND 6 ON BAIL IN CC
NO.3160/2022 REGISTERED FOR THE OFFENCES PUNISHABLE
U/S 143, 147, 120B, 302, 201, 203, 149, 504, 506 OF IPC,
ARISING OUT OF THE DHARWAD RURAL P.S. CRIME NO.146/2022
PENDING ON THE FILE OF THE IV ADDITIONAL CIVIL JUDGE
SENIOR DIVISION AND JMFC COURT DHARWAD.
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION COMING ON FOR ORDERS THIS
DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER
This petition is filed by accused Nos.1 to 4 and 6 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.146/2022 of Dharwad Rural Police Station registered for the offences punishable under Sections143, 147, 120B, 302, 201, 203, 504 and 506 read with Section 149 of The Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the 'IPC', for brevity). -3- CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022
2. The case of the prosecution is that, one Mallikarjun has filed complaint stating that, on 28.05.2022 at about 10.30 a.m., he and his friend Mahadev had been to Naya Nagar river to wash his motorcycle. When they were cleaning the motorcycle they noticed a foul smell and when they searched for the cause of the smell, they found a dead body wrapped in a plastic gunny bag. Immediately, they informed the Bailhongal police. Within a few moments the police arrived to the spot and when the gunny bag was opened, they found dead body of a male person aged about 30-35 years wearing orange colored full sleeve shirt and white half banian, chocolate colored nikkar and black colored night pant and Lord Hanuman's tattoo on the right wrist of the dead body and also appeared injuries on the forehead and face. The said complaint came to be registered in Crime No.124/2022 of Bailhongal police station for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 120B, 302, 201 read with Section 149 of -4- CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 IPC. Subsequently, the said crime came to be transferred to the Dharwad Rural police station and a case came to be registered in Crime No.146/2022 for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 120B, 149, 201 and 302 of IPC. The police after investigation filed charge sheet against accused Nos.1 to 6 for the aforesaid offences. The police during investigation, have recorded the statement of Punithkumar Yallappa Hagedar and Basavaraj Yallappa Hagedar and others. In the statement of Punitkumar, he has stated that, on the intervening night of 25.05.2022 and 26.05.2022 when he was sleeping in his bedroom, he heard some noise and he got up and went to the other room, there he saw accused No.1 assaulting his father on his head and when he intervened, accused No.1 and his mother Saraswati(accused No.2) threatened him with dire consequences and told him not to disclose about the incident to anybody. He further stated that on 27.05.2022, accused No.1 came along with 4 -5- CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 persons and shifted the dead body of his father by keeping the same in a plastic gunny bag in a car. The case is now pending in S.C. No.5043/2021 on the file of the learned V Additional District and Sessions Judge, Dharwad, sitting at Hubballi. The petitioners filed Criminal Miscellaneous No.558/2022 seeking bail and the same came to be rejected by the learned IV Additional District ad Sessions Judge, Dharwad, by order dated 31.10.2022. 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.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioners would contend that, the complaint came to be filed on a dead body being found and it is registered in Crime No.124/2022 by Bailhongal Police. It is his further submission that, accused No.2 filed a missing -6- CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 complaint on 09.06.2022 which came to be registered in Crime No.111/2022 by Dharwad Rural Police Station. The complaint registered by the Bailhongal Police station came to be transferred to the Dharwad Rural Police Station and a case came to be registered in Crime No.146/2022. It is his further submission that one of the prime witness for the prosecution case is CW.18-Punithkumar, who is the son of the deceased and accused No.2 and his statement is recorded by the Bailhongal Police on 17.06.2022. His statement is also recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. on 04.08.2022 and his further statement is recorded by the police on 06.08.2022. It is his further submission that, there are contradictions in the statement of CW-18 recorded by the police and also in the statement recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C with regard to his age and breaking of his mobile. It is his further submission that he was not at all enquired by the police on the missing complaint filed by accused -7- CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 No.2 on 09.06.2022 till the case was transferred by the Bailhongal Police. There is delay in recording the statement of eyewitnesses. CW-18 is a grown up boy, aged 17 years and he could have informed about the incident to his brother CW-19-Basavaraj but he has not done so. It is his further submission that, the police have suppressed the truth. It is his further submission that the object of grant of bail is to secure the presence of the accused at trial. It is his further submission that, accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 are placed similarly to that of accused No.5 who has been granted bail by this Court in Criminal Petition No.103038/2022 by order dated 02.11.2022 and therefore, they are entitled for grant of bail on the ground of parity. With this, he prayed to allow the petition.
5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader would contend that, the offences alleged against the petitioners are heinous offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life. The -8- CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 prima witness for the prosecution case is CW-18, who is the son of the deceased and accused No.2. In his statement before the police and also in the statement before the Magistrate recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C., CW-18 has specifically stated with regard to the overt act of accused Nos.1 and 2 in committing murder of his father. It is his further submission that, merely delay in recording the statement of the eyewitnesses, is not a ground for grant of bail since there was threat to CW-18 by his mother/accused No.2 and accused No.1. It is his further submission that, the D octor who conducted postmortem examination over the dead body of the deceased has noted that there is cut lacerated wound on the head and other parts of the body. Charge sheet material show prima facie case against the petitioners for the offences alleged against them. If the petitioners are granted bail, there is threat to CW-18 who is the son of accused No.2 and -9- CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 deceased and other prosecution witnesses. 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.
7. The accusation in the charge sheet is that, accused No.1 had illicit relationship with accused No.2, who is the wife of the deceased Yallappa. The deceased was coming in the way of the illicit relationship of accused Nos.1 and 2 and therefore, accused Nos.1 and 2 conspired to commit the murder of the deceased and on 26.05.2022 the accused No.1 with the assistance of accused No.2 was hiding in the house of the deceased and when the deceased slept in the house, after finishing dinner, accused No.1 took an iron rod shown by accused No.2 and assaulted the deceased on his head with the said iron rod and committed murder. Thereafter, accused
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CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 No.1 conspired with accused Nos.3 to 6 to shift the dead body which was in the house of the deceased in the car of accused No.5 and accordingly, they shifted the dead body in the car of accused No.5 bearing registration No.KA-53/D-3528 by keeping it in the Dickey and taking the same to Malaprabha river of Naya Nagar and thrown the dead body in the running water of Malaprabha river at 3.00 a.m. on 27.05.2022 and they have also burnt the cloth bundle on the way with the help of petrol brought by them, by the side of the road near Budarkatti tank. On perusal of the said accusations, the accusation against this petitioners Nos.3, 4 and 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 is that, they conspired with accused Nos.1 and 2 and after committing the murder of the deceased by accused Nos.1 and 2, they helped to dispose of the dead body and they took the dead body in the car and thrown it in the Malaprabha river running water and also burnt the cloth bundle. The offence alleged against petitioner Nos.3, 4 and
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CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 are under Sections 143, 147, 120B and 201 of IPC. There is no allegation of committing murder of the deceased against accused Nos.3, 4 and 6. Accused No.5, who is similarly placed to that of accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 has been granted bail by this Court and therefore, petitioners 3, 4 and 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 are entitled for grant of bail on the ground of parity.
The main accusation of committing murder of deceased is against accused Nos.1 and 2. CW-18- Punithkumar is the son of the deceased and petitioner No.2/accused No.2 and as per the statement recorded by the police and also the statement recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C., he has seen accused Nos.1 and 2 committing murder of his father-Yallappa by assaulting him with iron rod. His statement is also recorded under Section 164 of Cr.P.C. There was threat by accused No.1, his mother/accused No.2 not to disclose the same to anybody. Merely because there is delay in recording
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CRL.P No. 103507 of 2022 the statement of eyewitnesses is not a ground for grant of bail. If petitioner Nos.1 and 2/accused Nos.1 and 2 are granted bail, there is threat to CW- 18 by accused Nos.1 and 2. There is prima facie case made out against the accused Nos.1 and 2 for the offences alleged against them. Hence, accused Nos.1 and 2 are not entitled for grant of bail. Accordingly, I pass the following:
ORDER The petition filed by petitioner Nos.1 and 2/accused Nos.1 and 2 under Section 439 of Cr.P.C. is rejected.
The petition filed by petitioner Nos.3, 4 and 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 is allowed. Consequently, the petitioner Nos.3 to 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 are ordered to be released on bail in Crime No.146/2022 of Dharwad Rural Police Station subject to the following conditions:
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i) Petitioner Nos.3 to 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only) each with one surety for the likesum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.
ii) Petitioner Nos.3 to 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 shall not indulge in tampering the prosecution witnesses.
iii) Petitioner Nos.3 to 5/accused Nos.3, 4 and 6 shall attend the Court on all the dates of hearing unless exempted and co-operate in speedy disposal of the case.
Sd/-
JUDGE kmv