Madras High Court
Suresh @ Suresh Vijaya Rajan vs The State Rep. By on 28 June, 2023
Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 28.06.2023
Coram
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice M.SUNDAR
and
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice R.SAKTHIVEL
Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
Suresh @ Suresh Vijaya Rajan
S/o.Rajan ... Appellant
-vs-
The State rep. by
The Inspector of Police,
Deevattipatty Police Station
Salem ... Respondent
(Cr.No.14 of 2020)
Criminal Appeal filed under Section 21 of NIA Act against the order in
Crl.M.P.No.565 of 2023 dated 02.03.2023 on the file of the Principal
Sessions Judge, Salem.
For Appellant .. Mr.R.Sankara Subbu
For Respondent .. Mr.R.Muniyapparaj
Additional Public Prosecutor
1/8
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Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
JUDGMENT
[Judgment of the Court was made by M.SUNDAR, J.]
Captioned Criminal Appeal has been filed in this Court under Section
21 of 'National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 (Act 34 of 2008)' which
shall hereinafter be referred to as 'NIA Act' for the sake of brevity,
convenience and clarity, assailing an order dated 02.03.2023 made in
Crl.M.P.No.565 of 2023 on the file of 'Principal Sessions Judge, Salem'
[hereinafter 'Salem Sessions Court' for the sake of convenience].
2. Short facts shorn of details that are not imperative for appreciating
this order are that the appellant is one of the accused in Crime No.14 of
2020 on the file of Deevattipatty Police Station within the jurisdiction of
Judicial Magistrate, Omalur; that the appellant on 19.08.2021 sought default
bail under Section 167 (2) of 'The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of
1974)' [hereinafter 'Cr.P.C' for the sake of brevity and clarity] in Crime
No.14 of 2020 vide.C.M.P.No.2896 of 2021; that the default bail plea was
acceded to by the Salem Sessions Court in and by an order dated
25.08.2021 imposing five conditions but we are now concerned with only
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Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
Condition No. 3 thereat which reads as follows:
'60. that the petitioner shall report and sign before the
respondent / police daily at 10.00 a.m, until further orders and on
further condition that he shall make available himself for
interrogation as and when required by the Investigation Officer.'
that the appellant in and by Crl.M.P.No.565 of 2023 moved the Salem
Sessions Court inter alia under Section 439 (1)(b) of Cr.P.C with a prayer to
modify this condition No.3; that by an 'order dated 02.03.2023, the Salem
Sessions Court dismissed the modification petition' [hereinafter 'impugned
order' for the sake of convenience]; that assailing the impugned order,
captioned statutory appeal under Section 21 of NIA Act has been filed in this
Court.
3. Mr.R.Sankarasubbu, learned counsel for appellant submitted that
the appellant has been implicated in another case namely C.C.No.3 of 2021
on the file of 'Special Court under the National Investigation Agency Act,
2008 (Sessions Court for Exclusive Trial of Bomb Blast Cases), Chennai at
Poonamallee' [hereinafter 'Chennai NIA Court' for the sake of convenience];
that the appellant moved for bail unsuccessfully before Chennai NIA Court;
that the appellant carried it by way of another statutory appeal vide
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Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
Crl.A.No.157 of 2022; that this criminal appeal was allowed by another
Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court in and by an order dated 22.04.2022
imposing certain conditions but we are now concerned only with Condition
No.(c), which reads as follows:
'(c) Suresh Rajan (A2) shall appear before the Special Court
daily at 10.30 a.m and sign until further orders;'
that as this condition No.(c) was being complied owing to which
aforementioned Condition No.(3) imposed by the Salem Sessions Court
could not be complied with and that putting this against the appellant, the
impugned order has been made. To be noted, the operative portion of the
impugned oder reads as follows:
'In the stated circumstances, considering the fact that as per
the condition imposed by this Court on the petitioner in
C.M.P.No.2896 of 2021 dated 25.08.2021, the petitioner has
abided the condition only for two days on 08.11.2022 and
09.11.2022, subsequently he failed to abide the condition, hence I
am not inclined to consider the plea of the petitioner'
4. In response to the above, learned Prosecutor submitted that there
are two sets of bail conditions and it would be desirable that the appellant
complies with the condition imposed by this Court as regards Chennai NIA
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Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
Court i.e., Condition No.(c) but it is imperative that appellant cooperates
with the investigation as regards Crime No.14 of 2020 which is subject
matter of Salem Sessions Court.
5. The point in captioned appeal is fairly simple. There are two bail
orders, one made by the Salem Sessions Court and another by a Hon'ble
Division Bench of this Court. While the Salem Sessions Court's bail order
imposes a condition that the appellant should go before Deevattipatty Police
Station in Salem District daily by 10.00 a.m (order dated 25.08.2021), order
made by Hon'ble Division Bench earlier on 22.04.2022 imposes a condition
that appellant should go before NIA Special Court in Chennai daily.
Obviously the two cannot be complied with considering the distance
between two Courts and the time. We are informed that the distance is in
the region of 360 kms. Therefore, the ground on which learned judge of the
Salem Sessions Court has negatived the modification petition is clearly
unacceptable and deserves to be interfered with. To be noted, we have
extracted and reproduced the operative portion supra.
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Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
6. In the light of the narrative, discussion and dispositive reasoning
supra, the following order is made:
i) Captioned Criminal Appeal is allowed and the
impugned order made by Salem Sessions Court being order
dated 02.03.2023 made in Crl.M.P.No.565 of 2022 is set aside;
ii) Appellant shall continue to comply with all the
conditions for bail imposed by another Hon'ble Division Bench
in and by order dated 22.04.2022 in Crl.A.No.157 of 2022;
iii) Appellant shall cooperate with investigation qua
Deevattipatty Police Station as regards Crime No.14 of 2020
i.e., by responding to summons as and when issued.
Captioned criminal appeal allowed and ordered on above terms.
(M.S,J.) (R.S.V.,J.)
28.06.2023
Index:Yes/No
Neutral Citation : Yes/No
gpa
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Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
To
1. The Inspector of Police,
Deevattipatty Police Station
Salem
2.The Public Prosecutor,
High Court of Madras,
Chennai – 104.
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
M.SUNDAR, J.
and
R.SAKTHIVEL, J.
gpa
Crl.A.No.639 of 2023
28.06.2023
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
