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2022 Supreme(Online)(KER) 57850
HIGH COURT OF KERALA
A. BADHARUDEEN, J
SIJU KURIAKOSE – Appellant
Versus
SUNIL VARGHESE – Respondent
Crl.MC/6302/2022
THOMAS T.VARGHESE, PHILIP T.VARGHESE, V.T.LITHA, K.R.MONISHA, DENNY VARGHESE, LIJO RAJU, JOEL THOMAS, BASIL SIMON
A party's repeated fleeing from judicial custody and lack of compliance with court orders justifies the refusal of bail.
Headnote:
Bail - Criminal Proceedings - Negotiable Instruments Act - Section 138 - The court found no grounds to quash the dismissal of bail due to the accused's disregard for court orders and previous bail conditions, reaffirming the magistrate's authority to deny bail under the circumstances.
Fact of the Case:
The accused challenged the dismissal of his bail application after surrendering to the court following a non-bailable warrant. He was remanded, but escaped from the court premises shortly thereafter.
Issues: Whether the dismissal of the bail application and subsequent actions taken by the magistrate were justified based on the accused's behavior and prior non-compliance.
Ratio Decidendi: The court affirmed that a defendant's disregard for court orders and repeated non-compliance can justify the denial of bail, as it reflects a lack of respect for the judicial process.
Final Decision: The Criminal Miscellaneous Case is dismissed, maintaining the magistrate's decision.
The accused in S.T.No.122 of 2019 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kalamassery impugns Annexure-A3 proceedings dated 06.09.2022 whereby, the learned Magistrate dismissed the bail application filed by the accused, when he was surrendered, after cancellation of bail and issuance of N.B.W. After dismissing the bail application, learned Magistrate remanded the petitioner/accused to the judicial custody in District Jail, Kalamassery till 19.09.2022. But after the order of remand, the accused ran away from the Court and accordingly, the learned Magistrate directed the Junior Superintendent to file complaint before the Station House Officer regarding the said occurrence.
2. The learned counsel for the petitioner would argue that the offence alleged is one under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and the petitioner has no criminal antecedents. Therefore, Annexure-A3 is liable to be quashed. I have called for a report from the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kalamassery and as per report dated 16.09.2022, the history of the case has been narrated by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kalamassery and in the report, it has been reported as under:
“Complainant present. Proof affidavit filed and documents original produced. Kept aside in roll. Call. No representation for accused. Again taken up the case at 12.50 p.m. No representation. Name of accused and Adv.Denny Joseph called. No representation for accused. From the previous proceedings also, it is evident that accused is not vigilant of court proceedings and several times bailable warrant were issued due to no representation. It is not possible to proceed with the case without his presence and there is no representation as well. Bail bond of accused cancelled. Issue N.B.W. to accused and notice to sureties” to 06.09.2022.
On 06.09.2022, accused surrendered before this Court. Bail application was filed, which was separately dismissed on the same day. A fresh vakalath was filed with No Objection Certificate. Accused was remanded to District Jail, Kakkanad till 19.09.2022. During the lunch break, my Bench Clerk came to my chambers and I had signed the Remand Warrant. She returned to the court hall. Before that the accused and the counsel was waiting in the court hall. She again rushed to my Chambers and informed that the accused is missing. The Bench Clerk informed me that when she enquired to the counsel for the accused as to missing, he answered that he was downstairs. Office Attendant searched entire court premises and he could not be traced out. Again the file was placed before me in the afternoon session with a report of the Bench Clerk. I had written the following proceedings on the same day.
“Placed again before me with a report of Bench Clerk that accused escaped from court premises. Junior Superintendent is directed to file complaint before Station House Officer, Kalamassery. N.B.W. and notice to sureties already pending returned. Repeat N.B.W. to accused and notice to sureties. Issue memo to Station House Officer, Kalamassery to execute the same forthwith”. The case stands posted to
28.11.2022.
3. It is pertinent to note that in view of Annexure-A3 proceedings when the petitioner was remanded to the judicial custody, he ran away from the court premises without obeying the order of the court. Thus, it appears that the petitioner herein is a person who ran away from the custody of the Court neglecting the order of remand and therefore, the petitioner is a person who has least respect to the judicial proceedings. Such a person now seeks assistance of this Court to justify his blatant violation of the order of the Court and to get bail. In my view, such a person deserves no leniency also. Therefore, the order passed by the learned Magistrate could not be faulted at all and the same is within the ambit of power available to the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court.
Therefore, I am not inclined to quash the proceedings. Hence, t
