Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Criminal Procedure; vs In Re: Akhtar Parwez on 13 April, 2021
13.04.2021
Ct No. 28
Item No. 11
Rakib (PA)
CRM 2896 of 2020
With
CRAN 2 of 2020 (old CRAN 2401 of 2020)
With
CRAN 3 of 2020
(Through Video Conference)
In Re.- An application for bail under Section 330 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure read with Section 439 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure;
And
In Re: Akhtar Parwez
Petitioner
Mr. Sekhar Basu, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Rajdeep Mazumdar,
Mr. Mayukh Mukherjee,
Ms. Arushi Rathore.
....For the petitioner
Mr. Saswata Gopal Mukherjee, Ld. PP,
Mr. Neguive Ahmed.
.....For the State
The present application under Section 330 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure read with 439 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure has been preferred by the petitioner (on behalf of the
accused) in connection with Shakespeare Sarani Police Station
Case No. 159 of 2019 dated 17.08.2019 under Sections
304/308/279/427/201/212 of the I.P.C.; with Section 3 PDPP
Act and under Section 119/177 of MV Act.
The background of the case is that on 17.08.2019 at
about 01.50 hours the accused being the driver of a private car,
which was a blue coloured Jaguar car bearing registration No.
WB20AU9797 was proceeding along Shakespeare Sarani from
West to East direction and at the crossing of Shakespeare Sarani
and Loudon Street after violating the road traffic signal hit the
middle right side of one Mercedes car (Registration no. WB02 AM
6199) which was coming along Loudon Street from North to
South direction and dragged the said car towards the south
eastern side of the crossing and hit the traffic kiosk on the
footpath and also smashed two Bangladeshi nationals namely,
Kazi Md. Mainul Alam and Farhana Islam Taniya who were
waiting for hiring a taxi. The two Bangladeshi nationals were
taken to SSKM Hospital where they were declared "Brought
Dead".
The investigation of the case commenced on the
complaint of one Kazi Md. Shafi Rahamat Ullah. In course of
investigation the relatives of the present petitioner tried to
mislead the Investigating Agency and produced one Arsalan
Parwez. Investigation also revealed that the driver and co-
passenger of the Mercedes vehicle were also seriously injured.
The accused initially took shelter in one of his relation's house at
the outskirt of Kolkata and from there he fled to Dubai.
Subsequently the passport of the accused on being seized
reflected his movement to Dubai also. In course of investigation it
was opined by the experts that the offending car was driven at an
estimated speed of 130-135 km per hour before the incident and
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history of the car reflected that it had violated traffic signals for
48 times during the seven months prior to the incident. The
Investigating Agency on completion of investigation submitted
charge-sheet on or about 18th September, 2019.
The accused was arrested on 21.08.2019 and
subsequently preferred an application under Section 330 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure before the Learned Jurisdictional
Court and the present petitioner being the father of the accused
on his behalf preferred the instant application under Section 330
read with Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Initially, this application was heard on 08.04.2020 and
without going into the merits of the case and only on the basis of
the medical report dated 16.03.2020 issued by Director of
Institute of Psychiatry, the accused was granted interim bail for a
period of two months. The said interim bail was extended on
09.06.2020, for six weeks. However, by the same order the
Superintendent of Institute of Psychiatry - Centre of Excellence
(COE) was directed to submit report with regard to the nature of
ailment of the accused with specific emphasis on the aspect as to
whether the mental illness, if any, of the accused is of such
decree that he is unable to participate in the trial proceeding.
Additionally, it was ordered that the Superintendent shall also
mention in the report whether the accused needs to go to
Bangalore for better treatment as contended on his behalf.
On 20.10.2020 the interim bail was extended till 31st
December, 2020, after directing the report of the Superintendent
to be circulated upon the lawyers appearing for the parties.
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On 02.12.2020 when the matter came up for hearing the
interim order was extended for a period of four months with a
direction upon the Investigating Agency to take steps to ensure
for medical examination with regard to the psychological status
and the capacity of the petitioner/accused to face trial, to be
examined at the National Institute of Health and Neurosciences,
Bangalore. The Head of the Institution was directed to extend
necessary assistance to the Investigating Agency and a report was
also called for with regard to the psychological status of the
accused.
Accordingly, a report dated 23.02.2021 has been
furnished before this Court by a Board of National Institute of
Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, consisting of the Medical
Superintendent, Chairman, Prof & HOD Psychiatry Member and
Prof & HOD Neurology Member where the said Board was pleased
to observe:
"The Board, after examining the patient and having gone
through all available medical records and after discussion during
the medical board meeting, opines that,
1.Mr. Raghib Parwez is suffering from 'Bipolar affective disorder in remission'. Currently maintaining improvement.
2. Mr. Raghib Parwez is maintaining well on medications (Tab. Valproate 1250 mg/day, Tab. Aripiprazole 15 mg/day and Tab/. Thyronorm 25 mcg/day).
3. Detailed clinical and psychological assessment reveals that Mr. Raghib Parwez is fit to face the trial procedures." 4 In view of the aforesaid opinion of the Board this Court is of the view that the provisions of Section 330 of Code of Criminal Procedure, is not attracted. Having considered the initial conduct of the accused, which reflects that after committing the ghastly incident he fled away to a foreign country, we are of the opinion that the interim bail so granted to the accused should not be extended. The accused as such, is directed to surrender before the Learned Chief Judge, City Sessions Court, Calcutta, on or before 20th April, 2021.
The Investigating Officer of the case is directed that if on or before 21st April, 2021 the accused do not surrender before the Learned Chief Judge, City Sessions Court, Calcutta, the Investigating Officer will exhaust the available process under law to secure the presence of the accused before the Court.
In case, pursuant to this direction the accused is taken into custody, the learned Court conducting the proceedings should take utmost efforts for concluding the trial within a reasonable period of time.
Accordingly, CRM 2896 of 2020 is dismissed and all connected applications are disposed of.
All parties shall act on the server copies of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.
(Tirthankar Ghosh, J.) (Soumen Sen, J.)
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