Criminal appeal against rejection of anticipatory bail application. High Court held that Section 18 of SC/ST Act is not a bar when other accused bear primary liability. Appeal allowed and bail granted.
Order dated 21.10.2022 rejected anticipatory bail application set aside. Bail granted subject to ₹50,000 bond and conditions.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 6th DAY OF DECEMBER, 2022
BEFORE
THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SREENIVAS HARISH KUMAR
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1909/2022
BETWEEN:
1 . MR CHAMARAJU S/O NANJAIAH AGED ABOUT 57 YEARS R/AT NO.28, 13TH CROSS 2ND MAIN, AGRAHARA DASARAHALLI BENGALURU – 560060
2 . SMT SHIVAMMA W/O CHAMARAJU AGED ABOUT 51 YEARS R/AT NO.28, 12TH CROSS 1ST D MAIN, NEAR YELLAMMA TEMPLE KEMGERI SATELLITE TOWN BENGALURU -560 060
3 . MAMATHA B K D/O CHAMARAJU AGED ABOUT 28 YEARS R/AT NO.1721, 12TH CROSS 1ST D MAIN, NEAR YELLAMMA TEMPLE KENGERI SATELLITE TOWN BENGALURU -560 060 ALSO R/AT SMV LAYOUT KENGERI UPANAGAR BENGALURU – 560 060 ...APPELLANTS
(BY SRI.ANIL R, ADVOCATE)
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AND:
1 . STATE OF KARNATAKA BY KENGERI POLICE STATION REP. BY IT PUBLIC PROSECUTOR HIGH COURT BUILDING BENGALURU – 01
2 . KU. MEENAKSHI H J D/O JAGADEESHA AGED BY MAJOR NO.46, 3RD MAIN, BANDEMUTT LAYOUT KENGERI UPANAGAR BENGALURU – 560 060
…RESPONDENTS
(BY SRI.MAHESH SHETTY, HCGP FOR R1; R2 SERVED AND UNREPRESENTED)
THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL IS FILED UNDER SECTIONS 14(A) (2) OF SC/ST (POA) ACT, 2015 PRAYING TO SET ASIDE THE ORDER DATED 21.10.2022 IN CRL.MISC.NO.10068/2022 BY THE LXX ADDL. CITY CIVIL AND SESSIONS JUDGE, SPL. JUDGE, BANGALORE THE APPELLANTS ON BAIL IN CR.NO.336/2022 REGISTERED BY RESPONDENT NO.1 KENGERI P.S., FOR THE OFFENCE P/U/S 420,376,504 R/W 34 OF IPC AND SEC.3(1)(R)(S) OF SC/ST (POA) AND PLEASED TO ALLOW THE PETITION.
THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL COMING ON FOR ORDERS THIS DAY, THE COURT DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
JUDGMENT
This is an appeal filed under Section 14A(2) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (‘SC/ST Act’ for short), questioning the correctness of the order
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dated 21.10.2022 passed by the LXX Additional
City Civil and Sessions Judge and Special Judge, Bengaluru (CCH-71) in Crl.Misc.No.10068/2022, rejecting the appellants’ application under Section 438 of Cr.P.C., for anticipatory bail in connection with Crime No.336/2022 registered by the first respondent police, for the offences punishable under Sections 420, 376 and 504 of IPC and Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of SC/ST Act read with Section 34 of IPC. The appellants are accused 2, 3 and 4.
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acquaintance with her when she joined a finance company situated at Uttarahalli and then told that he wanted to marry her. But he also made it clear that he could marry her only the marriage of his sister was performed. Then she was sent to Udupi for training in the month of 2016. He too went to Udupi. The specific allegation is that he indulged in sexual intercourse with her against her will in a lodge at Udupi. This was continued even after they returned to Bengaluru.
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her case and that they were not ready to perform
the marriage with a girl belonging to scheduled caste.
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that she has not stated anything about the appellants and all the allegations are against accused No.1. This being the circumstance, the court below could have granted anticipatory bail to the appellants. As usual, very routinely the court below has observed Section 18 of the SC/ST Act comes in the way of granting anticipatory bail. This observation cannot be sustained at all. Therefore appeal deserves to be allowed. Hence the following:
ORDER
Appeal is allowed.
The order dated 21.10.2022 passed in Crl.Misc.No.10068/2022 by the LXX Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge and Special Judge, Bengaluru (CCH-71), is set aside.
In the event of arrest of the appellants by the respondent police in connection with Crime No.336/2022, they shall be released on bail subject to each of them executing a bond for Rs.50,000/-
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(Fifty Thousand only) and providing one surety for the likesum to the satisfaction of the investigating officer. The appellants are also subjected to following conditions:-
Sd/JUDGE
Kmv/-
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the lower court was correct in rejecting the application for anticipatory bail under Section 438 Cr.P.C.
Whether Section 18 of the SC/ST Act acts as a bar to granting anticipatory bail when the appellants are not the sole accused of the core offence.
3 provisions across 2 enactments
MR CHAMARAJU S/O NANJAIAH
SMT SHIVAMMA W/O CHAMARAJU
MAMATHA B K D/O CHAMARAJU
STATE OF KARNATAKA
KU. MEENAKSHI H J
SREENIVAS HARISH KUMAR
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
