The Arms Act does not apply in non-notified areas, impacting the applicability of non-bailable offense charges in such contexts.

ORDER

Dated this the 28th day of January, 2021 APPLICATION FOR ANTICIPATORY BAIL The applicant is the 4th accused in Crime No.2996 of

2020 of Kallambalam Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram, for having allegedly committed offences punishable under Sections 143 , 147, 148, 294(b), 341, 323, 324, 427 read with Section 149 of the IPC and also under Section 27 of the Arms Act . The prosecution case, in brief, is this:

2. On 27.12.2020, at about 7.00 PM, while the defacto complainant and his friends were inside a bar hotel named, 'Indraprastha' at Kadampattukonam, the applicant, in prosecution of common object of the unlawful assembly, of which, they were all members, hurled abuses at him, committed riot, armed with deadly weapons like swords and stone and wrongfully restrained him and assaulted him and also committed mischief by causing damage to his car and in consequence to that, the crime was registered. The applicant states that the allegations are not true and that he is innocent and hence, he may be granted pre arrest bail.

3. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the applicant and the learned Public Prosecutor. The learned Public Prosecutor submits that accused Nos.3, 4, 5 and 6 have already been arrested and they have been subsequently granted bail. The sword was allegedly wielded by accused Nos. 5 and 6 and no injury was caused by means of the sword. Injury was caused by A1, who used a stone.

4. On hearing the submissions on both sides, I find that the incident took place in a place called Kallambalam. It is not a notified area under the Arms Act . Hence, in view of the decision of this Court inJinu v. State of Kerala 2017 (5) KHC 565 and Stephen v. State of Kerala 2018 (4) KHC 58, the provisions of the cannot be extended to places which are not notified areas. Hence, the only non bailable offence incorporated in this crime, being an offence under the , the applicant is entitled to the prayer sought.

5. In the result, the application is allowed and the applicant is directed to surrender before the Investigating Officer within two weeks. In the event of his being arrested, after interrogation, he shall be released on bail on the execution of a bond for Rs.50,000/-(Rupees Fifty thousand only), with two solvent sureties, each for the like amount to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer and on following further conditions: (i) He shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when called for.

(ii) He shall not intimidate or influence witnesses and tamper with evidence.

(iii) He shall not get involved in similar offences during the currency of the bail period.

In case of breach of any of the bail conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to apply for cancellation of the bail before the jurisdictional court. The bail application is allowed.