The main legal point established is that the severity of alleged offences and the petitioner's cooperation with the investigation are crucial factors in determining the grant of bail.

JUDGMENT

Shivashankar Amarannavar, J. - This petition is filed by accused No. 1 under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Cr.P.C.', for brevity) seeking bail in Hubballi Rural Police Station Crime No. 168/2022 registered for the offences punishable under Sections 286, 337, 338 and 304 read with Section 34 of The Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the 'IPC', for brevity) and Section 5 of Explosive Substances Act, 1908.

2. The case of the prosecution is that, one Sri. Veerabhadrappa Yachalagar has filed complaint stating that his wife Smt. Vijayalaxmi along with few others were working in M/s I.C. Flame Sparkle factory, Tarihal Industrial Area, Hubballi. It is further stated that the accused persons were manufacturing birthday sparkle candles and on 23.07.2022 at 3:45pm fire broke out at the said premises and along with his wife, other workers sustained injury. The injured were shifted to KIMS hospital, Hubballi. However, the wife of the complainant succumbed to the injures. On 24.07.2022, a complaint came to be filed. The said complaint came to be registered in Crime No. 168/2022 of Hubballi Rural Police Station for the aforesaid offences. The petitioner came to be arrested on 31.07.2022 and he is in judicial custody. The petitioner has filed Criminal Miscellaneous No. 5425/2022 seeking bail and the came to be rejected by the learned V Additional District and Sessions Judge, Dharwad, sitting at Hubballi, by order dated 09.09.2022. Therefore, accused No. 1 is before this Court seeking bail.

3. Heard the arguments of the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader for the respondent-State.

4. It would be the contention of learned counsel for the petitioner/accused No. 1 that the petitioner is not a owner of said industry. It is his further submission that accused No. 2 has been granted bail and accused Nos. 3 and 4 have been granted anticipatory bail by this Court, therefore on the ground of parity this petitioner/accused No. 1 is also entitled for grant of bail. It is his further submission that on looking to the averments made in the complaint, the offence under Section 304 is not attracted, utmost the offence attracted is Section 304A of IPC. The offences alleged against the petitioner are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life. The petitioner is ready to co-operate with the police in the investigation. With this, he prayed to allow the petition.

5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader would contend that the offences alleged against the petitioner is heinous offences. Investigation is still under progress. Punishment prescribed for one of the offences under Section 304 of IPC is imprisonment for life. The petitioner has not taken precaution in the industry and he has not made any arrangement for safety measures. If the petitioner is granted bail, he will hamper the investigation and tamper the prosecution witnesses. With this, he prayed to reject the petition.

6. Having regard to the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader, this Court has gone through the FIR, complaint, remand application and the order passed by the Sessions Court.

7. A fire mishap occurred in M/s I.C. Flame Sparkle Factory, Tarihal Industrial Area, Hubballi, on 23.07.2022 at 3:45 pm. In that fire mishap, 11 employees working in the said industry have sustained injuries and out of them, 4 succumbed to the injuries. A complaint has been filed by the husband of one of the deceased employee. It is alleged in the complaint that accused No. 1 is the owner of the said industry and accused No. 2 was working as a Manager. What is the cause for fire mishap has not been stated in the complaint. The offences alleged against the petitioner except the offence under Section 304 of IPC, are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life. The offence punishable under Section 5 of the E