The Single Judge Bench of the Kerala High Court, comprising Justice Ziyad Rahman in the case of Jayaprakash v. Sate of Kerala & Ors has granted bail to the person accused of attacking the car of family judge.
Facts of the Case
The petitioner due to enmity with the Presiding Officer in an ongoing case had broken the glasses of the car used by Judge of the Family Court. The crime was registered in such circumstances and as part of the investigation; the petitioner was arrested on 22.6.2023. Since then, he has been in judicial custody. This application for regular bail is submitted in such circumstances.
Submission of the Petitioner
The Counsel appearing on the behalf of the petitioner submitted that petitioner is innocent of all the allegations and the offence under the provisions of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, would not be attracted, as the car which was being used by the Judge of the Family Court was not public property as it was not a car owned by the Government. The offence under Section 353 also would not be attracted, as none of the public servants were assaulted or injured by the petitioner.
Submission of the Respondent
The Counsel appearing on the behalf of the respondent opposed the said application by pointing out that there are specific allegations and materials against the petitioner. Besides the same, consequent to the act committed by the petitioner, a loss of Rs.70,000/- (Rupees seventy thousand only) has occurred. The matter is under investigation.
Reasoning & Decision of the Court
The court considered the facts of the case and gone through the records and expounded that even though the leaned counsel for the petitioner contends that the offence under the provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act would not be attracted, as the case is at the stage of investigation, I do not intend to enter into any finding in respect of the same.
With regard to the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner with respect to the offence under Section 353 also, the bench affirmed the very same view.
Therefore, the Court accepted the bail application subjected to certain conditions and held that considering the period of detention the petitioner had undergone and other relevant circumstances including the fact that the petitioner does not have any criminal antecedents, the court do not find any necessity of further incarceration of the petitioner.
Case Details
Case:- BAIL APPL. NO. 5568 OF 2023
Petitioner:- Jayaprakash
Respondent:- State of Kerala & Ors
Judge: Justice Ziyad Rahman
Picture Source : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kerala_New_High_Court.jpg
