Kerala High Court
Rijas M.P vs State Of Kerala on 3 February, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A.
FRIDAY, THE 3RD DAY OF FEBRUARY 2023 / 14TH MAGHA, 1944
BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022
AGAINST THE CRIME NO.883/2022 OF ELATHOOR POLICE STATION,
KOZHIKODE DISTRICT
PETITIONER/ACCUSED:
RIJAS M.P
AGED 27 YEARS
S/O.ABUBACKER, VALAPPIL HOUSE, PERUMANNA P.O,
KOZHIKODE DISTRICT, PIN - 673019
BY ADVS.
GAJENDRA SINGH RAJPUROHIT
AKHIL GEORGE
THANSEELA M.B.
RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT:
STATE OF KERALA
REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM, KOCHI - 682031
BY ADV C S HRITHWIK - PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
03.02.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022
2
ORDER
The petitioner is the accused in Crime No.883/2022 of Elathoor Police Station, which was registered for the offences punishable under Sections 376(2)(n), 354, 506 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code.
2. The prosecution case is that during the month of August 2021, the accused forcibly kissed the defacto complainant and tried to establish a sexual relationship with him. Subsequently, after October 2021, the petitioner forcibly had sexual intercourse with the defacto complainant in Dubai and Mumbai on various occasions and thereby committed the offences.
3. The crime was registered based on the complaint submitted by the defacto complainant, and the same was registered on 04.12.2022. Now, the said case stands transferred to Nadakkavu Police Station, and it is renumbered as Crime No.1016/2022. The investigation is now in progress. The petitioner submitted this application in such circumstances, seeking anticipatory bail.
4. The specific contention put forward by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner and the defacto complainant were in a serious relationship, and they wanted to marry each other. It is pointed out BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022 3 that, even going by the statement of the defacto complainant given to the police, she accompanied the petitioner at various places in Dubai and Mumbai, and the sexual assaults allegedly took place in those places. It is also the case of the petitioner that the defacto complainant had collected an amount of Rs. 4,00,000/- (Rupees Four lakh only) to secure a job and a further amount of Rs.3,00,000/- (Rupees Three lakh only) was collected from the petitioner on various other occasions. Later, their relationship got strained, and the petitioner demanded the said amount back, and the defacto complainant issued two cheques dated 06.07.2022 and 27.06.2022, towards the repayment, for an amount of Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees Two lakh only) and Rs.5,00,000/-(Rupees Five lakh only), respectively. Later, when the aforesaid cheques were dishonoured for insufficient funds, the petitioner caused to issue lawyer notices, dated 13.07.2022 and 11.08.2022, respectively, to the defacto complainant, for initiating the proceedings against her under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The defacto complainant also sent reply notices to those lawyer notices. The lawyer notices issued by the petitioner are produced as Annexures 3 and 4, whereas the reply notices are Annexures 5 and 6. It is the specific case of the learned counsel for the petitioner that the FIR was registered after the issuance of the said notices and the reply notices, and according to him, the registration of the FIR is only a counterblast to BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022 4 the aforesaid proceedings.
5. It is also contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner was always willing to marry the defacto complainant, but it was the defacto complainant who withdrew from the relationship. To substantiate the aforesaid contention, the learned counsel for the petitioner points out that, during the month of April 2022, the defacto complainant eloped with another person, and in connection with the same, the father of the defacto complainant submitted a complaint before the Elathoor Police Station and Crime No.279/2022 has been registered. The copy of the said FIR was also produced before me, and I have perused the same.
6. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand would seriously oppose the said prayer and contentions. According to him, there are specific allegations against the petitioner, and the investigation is now in progress. Therefore, if the petitioner is released on bail, it would aversly affect the investigation.
7. After considering all the relevant aspects, I find some force in the contention put forward by the learned counsel for the petitioner. It is discernible that, there are several transactions, including monetary transactions between the parties. Even though, the defacto complainant alleges forceful sexual assaults being committed upon her by the BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022 5 petitioner, her statement reveals that she accompanied him to various places voluntarily. The financial transactions between the parties are also evident from Annexures 3 to 6 documents. The FIR was registered after more than one year of the date of the incident, and that too after the initiation of proceedings against her by the petitioner under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Thus, when all the aforesaid aspects are taken into consideration, I am of the view that the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner cannot be simply brushed aside. However, since the matter is now under investigation, it is only proper that the Investigation Officer completes the investigation as expeditiously as possible, for which the cooperation of the petitioner is necessary. In such circumstances, I deem it appropriate to dispose of this bail application directing the surrender of the petitioner before the Investigation Officer.
8. In such circumstances, this bail application is disposed of with the following directions:-
i The petitioner shall surrender before the Investigating Officer, within a period of two weeks from today, for subjecting himself to interrogation;
ii After interrogation, the petitioner shall be released on bail on the very same day of surrender upon the petitioner executing BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022 6 a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only) with two solvent sureties each for the like-sum to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer;
iii The petitioner shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for recovery, if any, as and when demanded. iv The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m every Monday until the filing of the final report.
v The petitioner shall also appear before the Investigating Officer as and when required by him. vi The petitioner shall not commit any offence of similar nature while on bail.
vii The petitioner shall not make any attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or in any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.
viii The petitioner shall not leave the State of Kerala without the BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022 7 permission of the trial Court.
In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional Court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation of bail, if any, filed and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.
Sd/-
ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A. JUDGE BR BAIL APPL. NO. 10358 OF 2022 8 APPENDIX OF BAIL APPL. 10358/2022 PETITIONER'S ANNEXURES Annexure-1 TRUE PHOTO COPY OF THE FIRST INFORMATION STATEMENT DATED 04.12.2022 Annexure-2 TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE FIR IN CRIME NO.883/2022 OF ELATHOOR POLICE STATION DATED 04.12.2022 Annexure-3 TRUE COPY OF THE LAWYER NOTICE DATED 13.07.2022 SENT TO THE DEFACTO COMPLAINANT.
Annexure-4 TRUE COPY OF THE LAWYER NOTICE DATED 11.08.2022 SENT TO THE DEFACTO COMPLAINANT Annexure-5 TRUE COPY OF THE REPLY NOTICE DATED 22.07.2022 ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE DEFACTO COMPLAINANT TO THE NOTICE DATED 13.07.2022 Annexure-6 TRUE COPY OF THE REPLY NOTICE DATED 22.07.2022 ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE DEFACTO COMPLAINANT TO THE NOTICE DATED 11.08.2022 Annexure-7 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE FIR IN CRIME NO.279/2022 OF ELATHOOR POLICE STATION RESPONDENT'S ANNEXURES: NIL