Smt Supriya vs The State Of Karnataka
2022 Latest Caselaw 11168 Kant

 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU

       DATED THIS THE 27 T H DAY OF JULY, 2022

                        BEFORE

THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SREENIVAS HARISH KUMAR

        CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1048 OF 2022

BETWEEN:

Smt. Supriya
W/o Munireddy
Aged about 31 years
R/at Gund alap alya Village
Masthi Hobli, Malur Taluk
Kolar-563130.
                                          ...Appellant
(By Sri Srinatha B.V., Advocate for
 Sri Nanjund a Gowda M.R., Advocate)

AND:

1.   The State of Karnataka
     By Malur police
     Kolar District
     Represented by
     State Pub lic Prosecutor
     Beng aluru-560 001.

2.   Sri Rag hu V
     Police Officer
     P.I.D.C.R.E., Kolar Unit
     Kolar-563101.
                                       ...Respondents
(By Sri K. Rahul Rai, HCGP for R1;
 Sri C. Jag ad ish, Advocate for R2)
                              :: 2 ::


     This     Criminal   Appeal    is    filed      under    Section
14(A)(2) of SC/ST (POA) Act, praying to g rant an
order of anticip atory b ail in the event of her arrest
and set aside the order d ated 03.06.2022 p assed in
Crl.Misc.No.450/2022        on   the    file   of    II   Additional
District and Sessions Judge, Kolar in CR. No.138/2022
of Malur Police for the offence P/U/S 198,467,468,471
of IPC and Section 3(1)(q) of SC/ST (POA) Act and
allow the app eal.


     This Criminal Appeal coming on for admission
this d ay, the Court d elivered the following:

                         JUDGMENT

This appeal is filed under Section 14(A)(2) of the

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of

Atrocities) Act, challeng ing the ord er dated

03.06.2022 passed by the II Ad ditional District and

Sessions Judge, Kolar in Crl.Misc.No.450/2022. The

application filed by the appellant und er Section 438 of

Cr.P.C., was dismissed .

2. Heard Sri B.V.Srinatha, Advocate on behalf

of Sri M.R.Nanjund a Gowd a, learned counsel for the

app ellant, learned High Court Government Plead er for :: 3 ::

respondent No.1-State and Sri C.Jag ad ish, learned

counsel for Respondent No.2.

3. The alleg ation against the appellant is that

she prod uced false caste certificate for securing seat

in ed ucational institution and obtaining scholarship.

It is the arg ument of the appellant's counsel that the

app ellant is 'Vokkalig a' by caste by birth, b ut she

married a p erson belong ing to 'Bhovi' caste, which is a

sched uled caste and therefore she is entitled to claim

reservation. He refers to Section 4 of the Karnataka

Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other

backward classes (Reservation of Appointments, etc.)

Act, 1990. But the learned Hig h Court Government

Pleader and Sri C.Jag ad ish oppose this arg ument by

submitting that the marriag e does not confer

sched uled caste status on the appellant. The caste

accrues by b irth and she cannot claim benefit and in

this view offence under Section 3(1)(q) of Scheduled

Castes and Scheduled Trib es (Prevention of Atrocities)

Act ('SC/ST Act' for short) is mad e out and thereby

Section 18 of the said Act is a b ar.

:: 4 ::

4. In Crl.A.No.1361/2021, I have already held

that obtaining a false caste certificate by giving false

information does not amount of an offence under

Section 3(1)(q) of the Act. However, such a person

can be p rosecuted for fabrication of documents and

giving false information in accord ance with the

offences under Indian Penal Code. In this view, I do

not think offence under Section 3(1)(q) of the Act is

mad e out at this stag e. If the appellant has given

false information for claiming reservation, she may be

tried and punished under the relevant provisions of

Indian Penal Code. Therefore I d o not find Section 18

of the Act to be an imp ediment for granting

anticip atory b ail. Moreover the appellant is a woman

and she is said to be suffering from cancer. In this

view, app eal deserves to be allowed. Hence the

following:

ORDER

Appeal is allowed .

In the event of arrest of the ap pellant by the respond ent police in connection with Crime No.138/2022, she shall be released :: 5 ::

on b ail subject to her executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (One Lakh only) and providing two sureties for the likesum to the satisfaction of the investig ating officer. The app ellant is also subjected to following cond itions:-

(i) She shall co-operate with the investig ating officer for completing the investig ation.

(ii) She shall attend the police station whenever her presence is necessary for the purpose of investig ation.

(iii) She shall not threaten the witnesses and tamper with evid ence.

Sd/-

JUDGE

Kmv/-