JUDGMENT :

Dr. Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, J

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal arises from a judgment of a learned Single Judge of the High Court of Kerala, rejecting the application for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973¹[CrPC]. Originally, the Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution was filed by two petitioners. The first petitioner is the spouse of the second respondent, who has filed the complaint leading to the registration of the first information report. The second petitioner is the mother of the first petitioner. By an order of this Court dated 3 December 2020, the Special Leave Petition was not entertained at the behest of the first petitioner and he was granted time to surrender before the competent court of jurisdiction and apply for regular bail.

3. The issue which survives in the present appeal is whether the High Court was justified in declining the prayer for anticipatory bail moved by the appellant (the second petitioner in the Special Leave Petition as it was originally filed). The marriage between the second respondent and the appellant’s son was solemnized on 14 May 2016. They have a child who was born in May