Kambala Naresh, vs State Of A.P
2022 Latest Caselaw 7226 AP

     THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI

     CRIMINAL PETITION Nos.7109 and 7110 OF 2022

COMMON ORDER:-

      These petitions are filed under Section 438 of the Code

of Criminal Procedure, 1973, to enlarge the petitioners on bail

in the event of their arrest.

2.    The petitioner in Crl.P.No.7109 of 2022 is A-4 and the

petitioners in Crl.P.No.7110 of 2022 are A-1, A-6 and A-7 in

Crime No.201 of 2022 of Razole Police Station, Konaseema

District. A case under Section 306 read with 34 IPC was

registered against the petitioners and others in the above

crime.


3.    It is the case of the prosecution that the VRO-IV of

Razole, who is de facto complainant, lodged a report stating

that when he engaged in his routine work at Tahsildar Office,

Razole, he witnessed one lady had poured petrol over her

person and set herself ablaze and she was engulfed by the

flames   and   nearby   people   extinguished   the   flames   by

sprinkling the water and she received extensive burn injuries

and that she was shifted to Community Centre, Razole and

thereafter, shifted to Government General Hospital, Kakinada

and on enquiry he came to know that she is one Yerramsetti
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Vijaya Durga and the report given by the said VRO was

registered as a crime under Section 309 IPC. This case was

initially registered for the offence under Section 309 IPC

against the deceased which was subsequently altered to

Section 309 read with 109 IPC against the petitioners and

others and subsequent to the death of the injured person, the

Section of law was altered to Section 306 read with 34 IPC in

the above crime.

4.    Heard Sri C.R.Kalyan and Sri N.Siva Reddy, learned

counsel for the petitioners and learned Special Assistant Public

Prosecutor for the respondent-State.

5. Learned counsel, Sri N.Siva Reddy, in elaboration to

what has been stated in the petition contended that though

initially, FIR was registered under Section 309 IPC later

basing on the alteration memo, it was altered into Section 306

read with 34 IPC and further contended that even in the

complaint on its face value, the ingredients under Section 306

IPC does not attract against the petitioners. It is further

contended that basing on the omnibus allegations and without

there being any abatement, the petitioners are falsely

implicated in this case and if the petitioners are arrested, their

reputation in friends and family will be affected, hence,

prayed to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner by imposing

conditions.

6. Learned counsel Sri Kalyan C.R., contended that the

ingredients of abatement are not found place in the present

case, as such, the present application can be considered and

in support of his contention he relied upon the judgment in

the case of M. Mohan v. State of Tamilnadu1.

7. On the other hand, learned Special Assistant Public

Prosecutor on instructions contended that wherein a suicide

note has been found and placed the same on record and

contended that there are ingredients under Section 306 IPC

and in the event, if pre-arrest bail is granted, the petitioners

may not cooperate with the investigation and may tamper

with the evidence and hamper the process of investigation,

hence, sought for dismissal of the petition.

8. On perusal of the FIR and the suicide note prima facie

the ingredients under Section 306 IPC do not found place

against the petitioners.

9. Section 306 IPC reads as under:

(2011) 3 SCC 626

"306. Abetment of suicide - if any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine."

10. The Hon'ble Apex Court in M. Mohan v. State of

Tamilnadu while dealing with ingredients of Section 306 of

IPC held as under:

"Before holding an accused guilty of an offence under Section 306 of IPC, the court must scrupulously examine the facts and circumstances of the case and also assess the evidence adduced before it in order to find out whether the cruelty and harassment meted out to the victim had left the victim with no other alternative, but to commit suicide. It is also to be borne in mind that in cases of alleged abetment of suicide, there must be proof of direct or indirect acts of incitement to the commission of suicide. Merely on the allegation of harassment without there being any positive action proximate to the time of occurrence on the part of the accused which led or compelled the person to commit suicide, conviction in terms of Section 306 of IPC is not sustainable".

11. Taking the submissions of the learned counsel for the

petitioners and the material available on record into

consideration and prima facie the ingredients of Section 306

IPC are not found at this stage. As such, this Court is inclined

to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioners by taking into

consideration the judgment referred supra and also by duly

taking the apprehensions made by the learned Special

Assistant Public Prosecutor into consideration with the

following conditions:

i) The petitioners/A-1, A-4, A-6 and A-7 shall be

released on bail in the event of their arrest in connection with

Crime No.201 of 2022 of Razole Police Station, Konaseema

District, on condition of executing a self bond for Rs.25,000/-

(Rupees twenty five thousand only) each with two sureties

each for a likesum each to the satisfaction of the Station

House Officer of Razole Police Station, Konaseema District.

ii) The petitioners shall appear before the Station

House Officer of Police Station, Razole, Konaseema District

once in a week i.e., on every Sunday between 10.00 a.m. and

12.00 noon till filing charge sheet;

(iii) Apart from that the petitioners shall appear before

the Investigating Officer whenever called by the Investigating

Officer for the purpose of investigation;

(iv) The petitioners shall not directly or indirectly

contact any other witnesses under any circumstances and any

such attempt shall be construed as an attempt of influencing

the witnesses and shall not tamper the evidence and shall co-

operate with the investigation;

Further, the petitioners shall scrupulously comply with

the above conditions and if there is breach of any of the above

conditions, it will be viewed seriously and it also entails

cancellation of the bail and in such case prosecution shall

move appropriate application for such cancellation.

It is made clear that this order does not, in any manner,

limit or restrict the rights of the Police or the investigating

agency from further investigation as per law and the findings

in this order be construed as expression of opinion only for the

limited purpose of considering bail in the above crime and

shall not have any bearing in any other proceedings.

Accordingly, these Criminal Petitions are allowed.

Miscellaneous applications, pending if any, shall stand

closed.

___________________________ JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI Date : 20.09.2022 SPP

THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI

CRIMINAL PETITION Nos.7109 and 7110 OF 2022

Date : 20.09.2022 SPP