Hanumantappa S/O. Mariyappa ... vs The State Of Karnataka
2022 Latest Caselaw 11331 Kant

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           IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA
                   DHARWAD BENCH

        DATED THIS THE 11 T H DAY OF AUGUST 2022
                         BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHIVASHANKAR AMARANNAVAR

          CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.100319 OF 2022

   BETWEEN:

   HANUMANTAPPA S/O. MARIYAPPA AY ODYA,
   AGE: 50 YEARS , OCC: A GRICULTURE,
   R/O. KADEBAGI LU, TQ: GANGAVATHI ,
   DISTRICT: KOPPAL-583227.
                                      ...A PPELLANT
   (BY SHRI RAJA RA GHAVENDRA NAIK , ADVOCATE)

   AND:

   1.   THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
        THROUGH GANGAV ATHI RURAL P.S .
        R/BY ITS STATE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
        ADVOCATE GENERAL OFFI CE,
        DHARWAD-580011.

   2.   SHIVALINGAMMA W/O. GOVINDAPPA
        AGE: 35 YEARS , OCC:FARMER,
        R/O. KADEBAGI LU, TQ: GANGAVATHI ,
        DISTRICT: KOPPAL-583227.

                                      ... RES PONDENTS

   (BY SRI. PRAS HAN TH V. MOGA LI, HCGP FOR R-1;
   NOTICE T O R- 2 IS SERVED AND UNREPRES ENTED)

        THIS CRIMINAL A PPEAL IS FI LED U/SEC.14A OF
   SC/ST (PREV ENTION OF ATROCITIES ACT) AMENDMEN T
   ACT, 2015, AND SECTION 438 OF CR.P.C SEEKING
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RELEASE OF THE APPELLANT/ACCUS ED NO.6 ON BAIL
IN THE EVENT OF HIS ARREST IN CONNECTI ON WITH
CRIME NO.21/ 2022 OF GANGAVAT HI RURAL POLICE
STATION, TALUK A GANGAVATHI, DISTRICT KOPPA L
FOR THE OFFEN CES PUNISHABLE U/SEC.143, 147,
323, 354, 504, 506 R/W SECTION 149 OF IPC AN D
SECTION 3(1)( r), 3(1)(s) , 3(1)( g), 3(2)(v-a) OF SC/ST
(PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES) AMENDMENT ACT,
2015.

     THIS CRIMINAL A PPEAL COMING ON FOR ORDERS
THIS DAY, T HE COURT DELIVERED THE F OLLOWING:

                      JUDGMENT

This appeal is filed by the appellant-

accused No.6 challenging the order dated

27.06.2022 passed in Criminal Miscellaneous

No.512/2022 by the learned Prl. District and

Sessions Judge, Koppal, (hereinafter referred

to as 'Sessions/Special Judge', for short),

whereunder a petition filed by the appellant

under Section 438 of The Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the

'Cr.P.C.', for brevity) seeking anticipatory bail

in Crime No.21/2022 of Gangavathi Rural

Police Station registered for the offences

punishable under Sections 143, 147, 323, 354,

504, 506 R/w Section 149 of Indian Penal Code

(hereinafter referred to as the 'I.P.C.', for

brevity) and Section 3(1) (r), 3(1) (s), 3(1)

(g), 3(2) (va) of The Scheduled Castes and the

Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,

1989. (hereinafter referred to as the 'SC & ST

(P.O.A.) Act' for brevity) came to be rejected.

2. Heard learned counsel Shri Raja

Raghavendra V.Naik for the appellant and

Shri Prashant Mogali, learned HCGP for

respondent No.1-State. In spite of service of

notice, respondent No.2-complainant remained

absent and unrepresented.

3. The case of the prosecution is that,

one Smt. Shivalingamma W/o Govindappa has

filed complaint stating that on 13.01.2022 at

about 2:00 p.m, when she was in her land

situated at Kadebagilu by doing work, at that

time, accused persons came there, forming an

unlawful assembly, in a car bearing Reg.No.KA-

22/P-5008, abused her in filthy language and

accused No.1 dragged her saree and kicked her

with leg and all the accused persons abused

her by taking her caste name and also gave

threat to her with dire consequence. The said

complaint came to be registered in Crime

No.21/2022 of Gangavathi Rural Police Station

for the aforesaid offences. The police after

investigation filed charge sheet against

accused Nos.1 to 6 for the offences mentioned

against their names in column No.17 of the

charge sheet. The appellant who is arrayed as

accused No.6 in the charge sheet apprehending

his arrest has filed Crl.Misc.No.512/2022

seeking an anticipatory bail and the same came

to be rejected by Special Court by order dated

27.06.2022. Therefore, the appellant has

challenged the said order in the present

appeal.

4. Learned counsel for the appellant

would submit that as per the charge sheet

records, appellant-accused No.6 belongs to

scheduled caste and therefore, the provision of

Section 3 of SC & ST (P.O.A.) Act is not

attracted. It is his further submission that the

learned Sessions/Special Judge without

considering the said aspect has passed the

impugned order holding that the provisions of

the SC & ST (P.O.A.) Act are attracted and

there is a bar under Section 18 of the SC & ST

(P.O.A.) Act for grant of anticipatory bail,

which requires interference by this Court. It is

his further submission that the alleged offences

against appellant-accused No.6 are under

Section 143, 147, 504, 506 R/w Section 149 of

IPC. The said offences alleged against

appellant-accused No.6 are not punishable with

death or imprisonment for life. With these, he

prayed to allow the appeal.

5. Per contra, learned High Court

Government Pleader supports the reasoning

assigned by the learned Sessions/Special Judge

in passing the impugned order.

6. Having heard the learned counsel for

the appellant and learned HCGP for respondent

No.1/State, this Court has gone through the

charge sheet records and the impugned order.

7. The First Information Report came to

be registered against accused Nos.1 to 5 and

15 other unknown persons for the offences

under Sections 143, 147, 323, 354, 504, 506

R/w Section 149 of IPC and Sections 3(1) (r),

3(1) (s), 3(2) (va) of the SC & ST (P.O.A.) Act.

After investigation, police have filed the charge

sheet against accused Nos.1 to 6 for the

offences mentioned against their names in

column Nos.12 and 17 of the charge sheet. The

offences alleged against this appellant-accused

No.6 in column Nos.12 and 17 of the charge

sheet are under Sections 143, 147, 504 and

506 R/w Section 149 of IPC. There is no

accusation on this appellant-accused No.6 for

having committed the offences under Sections

3(1) (r), 3(1) (s), 3(1) (g), 3(2) (va) of SC &

ST (P.O.A.) Act. The offences alleged against

appellant-accused No.6 are only under IPC. As

per the charge sheet material, this appellant-

accused No.6 also belongs to a caste coming

under the scheduled caste. Learned

Sessions/Special Judge without considering the

charge sheet material has erroneously held

that the offences alleged against appellant-

accused No.6 are under the provisions of SC &

ST (P.O.A.) Act and bar under Section 18 of SC

& ST (P.O.A.) Act is attracted and rejected the

anticipatory bail petition of the appellant-

accused No.6. When there is no accusation on

this appellant-accused No.6 having committed

any offence under Sections 3(1) (r), 3(1) (s),

3(1) (g), 3(2) (va) of SC & ST (P.O.A.) Act,

there is no question of attracting any bar

contained under Section 18 of SC & ST (P.O.A.)

Act. Therefore, the impugned order passed by

learned Sessions/Special Judge requires to be

set-aside. The offences alleged against the

appellant-accused No.6 under Section 143,

147, 504 and 506 R/w Section 149 of IPC are

not punishable with death or imprisonment for

life.

8. The main apprehension of the

prosecution is that, if the appellant is granted

anticipatory bail, he will threaten the

complainant and other prosecution witnesses

can be met with by imposing stringent

conditions.

9. In the facts and circumstances of the

case and submission of the counsel, this Court

is of the view that the impugned order passed

by the learned Sessions/Special Judge is not

sustainable, requires to be set-aside and the

appellant-accused No.6 is entitled for grant of

anticipatory bail subject to certain terms and

conditions. Hence, I proceed to pass the

following:

ORDER

Appeal is allowed.

The impugned order dated 27.06.2022

passed in Criminal Miscellaneous No.512/2022

by the learned Prl. District and Sessions Judge,

Koppal, is set aside.

The petition filed by the appellant-accused

No.6 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C is allowed.

Consequently, the appellant/accused No.6

shall be released on bail in the event of his

arrest in Crime No.21/2022 of Gangavathi

Rural Police Station, subject to the following

conditions:

   i)    The    appellant         shall       execute      a
         personal      bond       for     a        sum     of

Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only) with one surety for the likesum to the satisfaction of the Sessions/Special Judge, Koppal.

ii) The appellant shall voluntarily appear before the Sessions/Special Court, Koppal within fifteen days from this day and execute personal bond and furnish surety.

iii) The appellant shall not indulge in tampering the prosecution witnesses.

iv) The appellant shall attend the Court on all the dates of hearing, unless exempted, and co-operate in speedy disposal of the case.

Sd/-

JUDGE

AM