Kerala High Court
Manoj vs State Of Kerala on 5 August, 2025
2025:KER:58218
Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE GOPINATH P.
TUESDAY, THE 5TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025 / 14TH SRAVANA, 1947
CRL.A NO. 1437 OF 2025
CRIME NO.995/2020 OF Mananthavady Police Station, Wayanad
AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT DATED 23.07.2025 IN CRMP NO.1138
OF 2025 OF SPECIAL COURT FOR SC/ST ATROCITIES ACT CASES, THRISSUR
APPELLANT/S:
MANOJ
AGED 42 YEARS
S/O. RAVINDRAN, ELAVUNGALL HOUSE, PUTHIYIDAMKUNNU,
KUNNAMANGALAM P.0., WAYANAD DISTRICT, PIN - 670645
BY ADV SMT.KAVERY S THAMPI
RESPONDENT/S:
1 STATE OF KERALA
REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF
KERALA, ERNAKULAM, KOCHI, PIN - 682031
2 THE SUB INSPECTOR OF POLICE
GURUVAYOOR TEMPLE POLICE STATION,
THRISSUR DISTRICT, PIN - 680101
OTHER PRESENT:
SMT. SEENA C (PP)
THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
05.08.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
2025:KER:58218
Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -2-
JUDGMENT
This appeal has been filed under Section 14A of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Atrocities Act'), challenging an order dated 23-07-2025 in Crl. M.P. No.1138/2025 on the file of the Special Court for SC/ST Atrocities Act Cases, Thrissur, through which an application filed by the appellant for anticipatory bail in connection with Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station was rejected by that court.
2. The allegation leading to the registration of Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station is that in October 2019, the appellant had threatened the victim and had compelled her to travel with him to Guruvayoor and had sexual intercourse with her against her consent at a lodge at Guruvayoor. The appellant is also accused in Crime No.1911/2020 of Thampanoor Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram District, where the allegation is that the appellant had on 30-06-2019 committed rape on the same victim while they were staying at a lodge at Thiruvananthapuram. The investigation in Crime No.1911/2020 of Thampanoor Police Station has been completed, and the matter is now pending as S.C No.1488/2023 on the file of the Special Judge, Special Court for SC/ST Atrocities Act Cases, Nedumangad. The appellant is stated to be on bail in S.C. 1488/2023.
2025:KER:58218 Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -3-
3. The learned counsel for the appellant submits that a crime was registered as Crime No.995/2020 at Mananthavady Police Station, Wayanad District, on the allegation that the appellant had committed rape on the victim, who is a native of Mananthavady, at Thiruvananthapuram in June 2019 and at Guruvayoor in October 2019. It is submitted that the appellant was arrested in connection with the above crime, and after nearly 41 days in custody, he was granted bail by the Special Judge, Special Court for SC/ST (POA) Act Cases, Mananthavady, through an order dated 01-10-2020 in CMP No.151/2020. It is submitted that since it was noticed that the offence was committed at Thiruvananthapuram and Guruvayoor and not in Mananthavady, Crime No.1911/2020 was registered at the Thampanoor Police Station. It is submitted that since the allegation of rape within the limits of the Guruvayoor Police Station was also a subject matter of the proceedings before the Special Court at Thiruvananthapuram, the appellant filed Crl. M.C No.4939/2021 before this court seeking to quash the proceedings in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station, which was also registered regarding the incident of rape within the limits of Guruvayoor Police Station. It is submitted that the appellant enjoyed protective interim orders. Crl. M.C No.4939/2021 was dismissed by order dated 09-06-2025, essentially holding that the proceedings before the Special Judge, Special Court for SC/ST Atrocities Act Cases, Nedumangad will be confined to the 2025:KER:58218 Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -4- incident of rape at Thiruvananthapuram. It is submitted that apprehending arrest in connection with Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station, the appellant filed Crl.M.P No.1138/2025 before the Special Judge, Thrissur, and that application was rejected by the impugned order. It is submitted that in Annexure-B order of the Special Judge, Mananthavady, granting regular bail to the appellant after 41 days in custody, the gist of the prosecution case leading to the registration of crime at Mananthavady is recorded as the incidents of rape allegedly committed by the appellant in Thiruvananthapuram in June 2019 and at Guruvayoor in October 2019. It is submitted that merely for the reason that separate crimes had been registered at Thiruvananthapuram and Guruvayoor, and the proceedings at Mananthavady had been closed, should not be a reason to again take the appellant into custody on the same set of allegations. It is submitted that in such circumstances, the appellant may be granted bail in connection with Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station. It is submitted that the appellant will co-operate with the investigation into Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station, and the custodial interrogation of the appellant is not necessary in the facts and circumstances of the case noted above.
4. The learned Public Prosecutor vehemently opposes the grant of bail to the appellant. It is submitted that since the challenge raised by the appellant against the crime registered at Guruvayoor Police Station has 2025:KER:58218 Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -5- already been rejected by this Court, the Investigating Officer at Guruvayoor Police Station should have the liberty to get the custody of the appellant for the purposes of investigation, especially considering the serious nature of the offence alleged against the appellant. It is submitted that in the facts and circumstances of the case, the bar against the grant of anticipatory bail under the provisions of the Atrocities Act will apply, and the appellant is not entitled to anticipatory bail. It is submitted that the potency test of the appellant has to be carried out in respect of the Guruvayoor crime, and the vehicle in which the victim was taken to Guruvayoor by the appellant has also to be recovered. It is submitted that in such circumstances, this appeal is only to be rejected, confirming the order of the Special Court at Thrissur. The learned Public Prosecutor confirms that the notice of the appeal was served on the victim in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station.
5. Having heard the learned counsel for the appellant and the learned Public Prosecutor, I am of the opinion that the appellant is entitled to anticipatory bail. A reading of the order of the Special Court at Mananthavady will indicate that the crime, which was initially registered at Mananthavady Police Station, related to the allegation that the appellant committed rape on the victim at Thiruvananthapuram in June 2019 and thereafter at Guruvayoor in October 2019. Since the offence was not committed within the jurisdiction of the Mananthavady Police Station, two separate crimes were registered 2025:KER:58218 Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -6- against the appellant, one at Thiruvananthapuram (Crime No.1911/2020 of Thampanoor Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram) and the other at Guruvayoor (Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station). It is also clear from a reading of the order of the Special Judge, Mananthavady, that the appellant was granted bail after being in custody for 41 days. While the learned Public Prosecutor may be right in contending that since the challenge to the registration of the crime at Guruvayoor has already been rejected by this court, the investigating officer in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station should be given the liberty to properly investigate and file a final report. In the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, it would be unjust if the appellant is again taken into custody after obtaining regular bail from the Special Court in respect of the crime registered at Mananthavady. To ensure that the investigation into the crime registered at Guruvayoor is not affected in any manner, the appellant can be directed to appear before the Investigating Officer in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station for a specified number of days and thereafter whenever called upon to do so. It can also be clarified that even while on anticipatory bail, the appellant will be deemed to be in custody for purposes of recovery, etc., as held by the Supreme Court in Sushila Aggarwal and others v. State (NCT of Delhi) and another; (2020) 5 SCC 1. Since the appellant was already arrested in connection with the crime registered at Mananthavady and was granted 2025:KER:58218 Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -7- regular bail by the Special Court at Mananthavady after nearly 41 days in custody, and the case registered at Guruvayoor Police Station was based on the very same allegations, I am of the view that the bar under the provisions of the Atrocities Act should not be applied to deny anticipatory bail to the appellant.
Accordingly, this appeal is allowed. The impugned order in Crl.M.P No.1138/2025 on the file of the Special Judge, Special Court for SC/ST (POA) Act cases, Thrissur will stand set aside. It is directed that the appellant shall be released on bail, in the event of arrest in connection with Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station, subject to the following conditions:-
(i) Appellant shall execute a bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the arresting officer;
(ii) Appellant shall appear before the Investigating officer in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. from 11-08-2025 to 14-08-2025 and on 16-08-2025 and thereafter whenever called upon to do so;
(iii) Appellant shall be deemed to be in custody for recovery, interrogation, etc., as held by the Supreme Court in Sushila Aggarwal (supra);
2025:KER:58218 Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -8-
(iv) Appellant shall not attempt to contact the victim or immediate family members of the victim or interfere with the investigation or influence or intimidate any witness in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station;
(v) Appellant shall not be involved in any other crime while on bail;
(vi) Appellant shall co-operate with the investigation in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station.
If any of the aforesaid conditions are violated or if the Investigating officer feels that the appellant is not co-operating with the investigation in Crime No.618/2020 of Guruvayoor Police Station, it is open to the Investigating officer to seek cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the appellant.
Sd/-
GOPINATH P. JUDGE AMG 2025:KER:58218 Crl. Appeal No.1437/2025 -9- APPENDIX OF CRL.A 1437/2025 PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure A A TRUE COPY OF THE MEMORANDUM OF CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS CASE IN CRL.M.C NO: 4939 OF 2021 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure B A TRUE COPY OF THE INTERIM ORDER DATED 22.10.2021 IN CRL.M.C NO: 4939 OF 2021 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure C A TRUE COPY OF THE INTERIM ORDER DATED 17.07.2024 IN CRL.M.C NO: 4939 OF 2021 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure D A TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 9.06.2025 IN CRL.M.C NO: 4939 OF 2021 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT