This product is Licensed to : Sri Sadananda Law Firm; Advocate office

2015 4 Crimes(HC) 265;

SHORT NOTE
KARNATAKA HIGH COURT
G. Narendar, J.
Hanmanth —Petitioner
versus
State of Karnataka —Respondent
Criminal Petition No.100476 of 2015
Decided on 3.6.2015

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973—Section 439—Bail application—Offences u/s 302 and 201 IPC were
registered—Deceased and accused No. 4 were cousins but their relationship had soured due to business
rivalry—Accused No. 4 was alleged to have engaged accused No.1 to 3 and gave them supari for an
amount to kill deceased—Accused No.1 to 3 took deceased and killed him — CW 24 was claimed to be
eye witness of incident of murder—Complaint and eye witness statement prima facie appeared to
contradict one and another—Circumstances did not inspire confidence of court—Though deceased
was reported missing for 10 days, complainant wife had not named accused No.4 or suspected his
involvement—Applicant accused No. 2 deserved to be granted bail.

Held: Be that as it may. The contention of the petitioner’s Counsel merits consideration. The
complaint and the eye-witness’s statement prima facie appear to contradict one and another. It would
be improper to comment on the veracity or authenticity of either the complaint or the eye-witnesses
version. But, the circumstances do not inspire confidence of this Court. It is seen that a person was
missing for 10 days and the complainant being the wife of the deceased does not even name the
accused 4 or suspect his involvement. Even eye-witnesses do not blame accused 4 and the prosecution
version is based only on the statement of voluntary confession of the accused. The present petition is by
the second accused, as stated earlier, the complaint does not inspire confidence of this Court. Hence,
this Court is of the opinion that the petition deserves to be allowed. (Para 9)

Result: Petition allowed.

Acts Referred:
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE : S.439
INDIAN PENAL CODE : S.302, S.201

Counsel for the Parties: For the Petitioner: Sri M.J. Peerjade, Advocate For the Respondent: Sri K.S. Patil,
High Court Government Pleader