The court established that a lack of prior criminal antecedents and the recovery of stolen property can warrant bail under Section 439 of Cr.P.C.

ORDER

Dated this the 8th day of February 2021 Application for regular bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C.

The applicant is the 5th accused in Crime No.1/2021 of Elamakkara Police Station, for having allegedly committed offences punishable under Sections 457, 461, 380 and 414 r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

2. The prosecution case, in brief, is that the accused Nos.1 and 2, between 6.00 P.M on 31.12.2020 and 6.30 A.M on 01.01.2021, broke open into the house of the de facto complainant by night and committed theft of 122 sovereigns of gold ornaments and an iphone from an almirah in the bedroom of the de facto complainant's house which also was broke open and thereafter they sold a portion of the gold ornaments to the accused Nos.3 and 4 and the rest of the gold ornaments which comes to 115 sovereigns was entrusted to the applicant for safe custody. The applicant received the said ornaments knowing that it was stolen property. He was also given Rs.6,000/- as compensation for the alleged concealment of the stolen property. The applicant was arrested on

27.01.2021 and continues in remand.

3. The applicant states that he is innocent and that he is a temporary employee of Cochin Shipyard and now aged only 25 without any criminal antecedents and hence he may be released on bail.

4. Heard the learned counsel for the applicant and the learned Public Prosecutor.

5. The learned Public Prosecutor admits that the applicant has no criminal antecedents, and it is also stated that on the basis of the statement given by the co-accused, 115 sovereigns of gold ornaments were seized from his possession which had concealed knowing that it was stolen property.

Under circumstances, it is submitted that the applicant may not be released on bail since he is involved in a very grave offence of theft. Moreover, it is also pointed out that the accused Nos.1 and 2 are notorious criminals and due to a dispute between accused Nos.1 and 2, the 1st accused committed murder of the 2nd accused, in consequence of which crime 35/2021 has been registered at Kadavanthra Police Station. Hence, it is submitted that the applicant may not be released on bail.

6. After having heard the submissions on both sides, I find that the applicant is a 25 year old man without any criminal antecedents. The gold which was allegedly concealed by him has already been recovered. Hence further incarceration of the applicant may not be necessary. The other co- accused may be notorious criminals, but that will not preclude the applicant from being granted bail because the only offence alleged against him is under Section 414 of the IPC which entails a punishment of only imprisonment up to three years or fine.

7. In the result, the bail application is allowed and the applicant is directed to be released on bail on execution of bond for Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty thousand only) with two solvent sureties for the like amount each to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court and on the following conditions;

(1) He shall appear before the investigating officer on all Saturdays between 9 a.m and 12 noon for a period of two months or till filing of the final report whichever is earlier.

(2) He shall not attempt to influence or intimidate the witnesses.

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

In the event of violating the bail conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to apply for cancellation of bail before the jurisdictional court.