Full Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE VIJU ABRAHAM FRIDAY, THE 29TH DAY OF JULY 2022 / 7TH SRAVANA, 1944 BAIL APPL. NO. 5782 OF 2022 CRIME NO.702/2022 OF Museum Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram PETITIONER/ACCUSED 2: SANDHYA.K D/O KRISHNAMMA, AGED 38 YEARS, TC NO 43/1080(1), NIRAV, VADUVATHU, MUTTATHARA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695 008 BY ADVS. G.SUDHEER R.HARIKRISHNAN (H-308) RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT: STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, PIN - 682031 SR. PP SMT. SEETHA S THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 29.07.2022, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER
Dated this the 29th day of July, 2022 This is an application for regular bail.
2. Petitioner is the 2nd accused in Crime No. 702 of 2022 of Museum Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram (originally registered as Crime No. 37 of 2022 of Cyber Crime Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram) registered for the offences punishable under Sections 43 and 66 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and Sections 465, 567, 468, 471 of Indian Penal Code.
2. The prosecution allegation is that accused Nos. 1
to 5 in furtherance of their common intention to create forged building number in respect of two buildings owned by the 1 st accused, accessed Sanjaya Software of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation through the user IDs and passwords of Bill Collector, Revenue Inspector and Revenue Officer of the Corporation. Accused Nos. 1 to 5 created forged electronic documents allotting building numbers and thereby forged a document purporting to be a valuable security and thereby committed the aforesaid offences.
3. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the
petitioner that the petitioner is totally innocent of the charges levelled against her and she is working on a contract basis in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and she has no access to the software and the said software is secured with passwords. It is also submitted that the petitioner is in custody from 13.07.2022 and she has no criminal antecedents. It is further contended by the petitioner that accused Nos. 3, 4 and 5 have already been released on bail by this court in B.A. Nos. 5656 of 2022 and 5686 of 2022.
4. Heard the learned Public Prosecutor, who opposed this application for bail submitting that the petitioner has misused the password and has clear involvement in the alleged crime. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case
and also considering the fact that the petitioner is a lady who has no criminal antecedents, and that she is in custody from 14.07.2022 onwards, I am inclined to grant bail to the petitioner. Therefore, this application is allowed and the petitioner shall be released on bail subject to the following conditions:
(i) The petitioner shall execute a bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like-sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court;
(ii) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating
officer in Crime No. 702 of 2022 of Museum Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram on every Saturday at 11.a.m. and also on any other days as instructed by the investigating officer, until filing of final report;
(iii) The petitioner shall not attempt to interfere with the
investigation or to influence or intimidate the defacto complainant or any witness in Crime No. 702 of 2022 of Museum Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram District;
(iv) The petitioner shall not involve in any other crime
while on bail. If any of the aforesaid conditions are violated, the investigating officer in Crime No. 702 of 2022 of Museum Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram may file an application before the jurisdictional court, for cancellation of bail. Sd/- VIJU ABRAHAM JUDGE sb APPENDIX OF BAIL APPL. 5782/2022 PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure1 TRUE COPY OF FIR NO. 702 OF 2022 OF MUSEUM POLICE STATION (FORMERLY CRIME NO. 37 OF 2022 OF CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY) Annexure2 CERTIFIED COPY OF ORDER IN CRL. M.P. NO. 1253 OF 2022 AND CONNECTED CASES IN CRIME NO. 37 OF 2022 OF CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY (NOW CRIME NO. 702 OF 2022 OF MUSEUM POLICE STATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM