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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
C.S.DIAS
M.C.Thevan Sreedharan, C/o Santhamma – Appellant
Versus
State Of Kerala – Respondent
ORDER :
C.S.DIAS, J.
The petitioners stood as sureties for the 4th respondent, who was the counter petitioner in M.C.No.72/2023 on the file of the Court of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Thiruvalla (‘Court’, in short), which was initiated against the 4th respondent under Section 126 read with Section 130 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023(‘BNSS’, in short).
2. Pursuant to an order passed under Section 129 read with Section 130 of the BNSS by the above Court, the 4th respondent and the petitioners executed bonds to the satisfaction of the above court, undertaking that the 4th respondent would keep peace for a period of three years from 19.04.2024. Alleging that the 4th respondent had violated the bond condition, by not keeping peace during the above time period, the above court forfeited the bond of the 4th respondent and issued notice to the petitioners. Subsequently, by Annexure A2 order, the petitioners were ordered to pay Rs.25,000/- each within one month. Alleging that the petitioners have failed to comply with Annexure A2 order, the above court has issued warrants of arrest against the petitioners. The warrants of arrest are ex facie illegal and unsustainable in law.
Only the counter petitioner may be arrested for bond breaches under the BNSS; sureties cannot face arrest.
Sureties cannot be penalized for the principal's breach of bond conditions under Section 141 of the BNSS.
The inherent powers of the court can be exercised to quash unnecessary financial penalties on sureties whose obligations have lapsed.
Court mandates that orders under BNSS must explicitly state the information leading to the order.
Ensuring due process and the right to contest bond forfeiture under criminal procedure.
The court emphasized the importance of exhausting available statutory remedies over the exercise of inherent powers in bond forfeiture matters under BNSS.
A surety bond is unenforceable without a corresponding personal bond from the accused, as per S. 499 CrPC.
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