Full Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR. JUSTICE KAUSER EDAPPAGATH FRIDAY, THE 31ST DAY OF DECEMBER 2021 / 10TH POUSHA, 1943 BAIL APPL. NO. 10016 OF 2021 CRIME NO.26/2020 OF Malappuram E.E, Malappuram AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT IN CRMC 1365/2021 OF SPECIAL COURT (ATROCITIES AGAINST SC/ST), MANJERI PETITIONER/ACCUSED NO.10: SAJEEV KUMAR AGED 46 YEARS S/O.LATE RAMASAMI, AMBALAVEEDU HOUSE, ALLAPRA P.O., VENGOLA VILLAGE, KUNNATHUNADU TALUK, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT - 683 553. BY ADVS. ANITHA MATHAI MUTHIRENTHY BASIL THOMAS MIDHUN S. KARUN RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT: STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR HIGH COURT OF KERALA - 682 031. SRI.PRASANTH M.P., PUBLIC PROSECUTOR THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 31.12.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: BAIL APPL. NO. 10016 OF 2021 2
O R D E R
This is an application filed u/s 439 of Code of Criminal Procedure seeking regular bail.
2. The petitioner is the accused No.10 in Crime No.26/2020 of Excise Enforcement and Anti Narcotic Special Squad, Malappuram.
3. The prosecution case in short is that on 03.10.2020 at about 6.30 am, 167.5 kilograms of dried ganja was seized from a pick up van by the Circle Inspector of Excise Special Squad. It is further alleged that in consequence to the conspiracy held by the accused Nos.1 to 10, the accused Nos.1 to 4 obtained ganja from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh and that accused Nos.5 to 10 financed the other accused in committing the offence.
4. Heard both sides and perused the case diary.
5. The learned counsel for the petitioner BAIL APPL. NO. 10016 OF 2021 3 submitted that the petitioner is absolutely innocent and he has been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submitted that there are no materials to connect the petitioner with the alleged crime and hence he is entitled
to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application. He contended that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the petitioner and if the petitioner is released on bail at this stage, it would affect the course of investigation.
6. The detection was on 03.10.2020. On that day, accused Nos.1 to 4 were arrested. Subsequently, the accused No.8 was arrested on
10.02.2021 and accused No.9 was arrested on 12.03.2021. The accused No.6 surrendered on 21.06.2021. The petitioner was arrayed as an accused only on 29.06.2021. He was arrested on BAIL APPL. NO. 10016 OF 2021 4
29.09.2021. Since then, he is in judicial custody. Admittedly, nothing was seized from the possession of the petitioner. The petitioner was arrested after almost one year from the date of incident on the basis of the confession statement of the co-accused. The Hon’ble Supreme
Court in Tofan Singh v. State of Tamil Nadu [2021 KHC 111] has held that the confession statement of a co-accused is not admissible.
Considering all these aspects, I am of the view that embargo under Section 37 of NDPS Act would not apply to the petitioner. The investigation is almost over. Hence he can be released on bail on conditions. In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions:-
(i) The petitioner shall be released on bail
on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the BAIL APPL. NO. 10016 OF 2021 5 like sum each to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.
(ii) The petitioner shall fully co- operate with the investigation.
(iii) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m on every Saturday until further orders. The petitioner shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required by him.
(iv) The petitioner shall not commit any offence of like nature while on bail.
(v) The petitioner shall not make any attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation. BAIL APPL. NO. 10016 OF 2021 6
(vi) The petitioner shall not leave State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court. Sd/- DR. KAUSER EDAPPAGATH JUDGE sd