An anticipatory bail application under Section 438 CrPC for an accused alleged to be a hawala carrier in a cheating and extortion case was disposed of without grant. The Court held the case unfit for anticipatory bail and directed surrender for interrogation.
Petitioner directed to surrender for interrogation within two weeks.
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 KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A.
FRIDAY, THE 21ST DAY OF JULY 2023 / 30TH ASHADHA, 1945
BAIL APPL. NO. 3007 OF 2023
PETITIONER/S:
MUHAMMED SHABEER M.P
AGED 39 YEARS
MANGADAN PARAMBATH, ANAMANGAD, MALAPPURAM, KERALA, PIN
- 679357
BY ADVS.
T.K.RAJESHKUMAR
MANOJ V GEORGE
T.N.BINDU
DHANANJAY DEEPAK
ANGEL MARY AJU
ABHISHEK
VIJAY MATHEWS
RESPONDENT/S:
STATE OF KERALA
REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,HIGH COURT OF KERALA,
PIN - 682031
BY ADV PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
OTHER PRESENT:
ADV. C S HRITHWIK - SR PP
THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
21.07.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
B.A.No.3007 of 2023
2
O R D E R
Dated this the 21st day of July, 2023
This application is filed under Section 438 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking anticipatory
bail.
2.The petitioner is the 8th accused in Crime
No. 2697/2023 of Muvattupuzha Police Station.
Initially the crime was registered for the offences
punishable under Sec.395 and 120 B of the Indian
Penal Code. Subsequently a report was submitted
incorporating offences punishable under Sec.342,
362, 506(i), 417, 419, 412 r/w Sec. 34 of the
Indian Penal Code.
3.The prosecution case is that, the accused
persons, with a intention to obtain unlawful gain
by extorting money from the defacto complainant,
who is a PWD Contractor, offered him a loan of
Rs.100 crores at low interest rate @ 6.5% per
annum. Several discussions were conducted in
connection with the same, and later as a part of
the same, the 1st accused shown three Demand Drafts
of Standard Chartered Equatorial Bank and
B.A.No.3007 of 2023
3
promissory notes for Rs. 100 crores. As the defacto
complainant felt suspicious about the authenticity
of the said Demand Draft, he did not collect the
same and insisted for more documents to
substantiate the authenticity. Thereupon, the A1,
A2, A11 and A12 and an identifiable person confined
him in a place, threatened the defacto complainant
by demanding an amount of Rs.1 crore. It is also
alleged that accused persons forcibly obtained two
signed cheques for Rs.2.5 crores, 2 blank cheques
and 3 promissory notes from the defacto
complainant. Amount of Rs.5 lakhs kept in the
vehicle of the defacto complainant was also
forcefully taken by the accused persons.
Thereafter, on account of the intimidation of the
accused, the defacto complainant asked one of his
relatives to deliver Rs. 1 crore to A8. It is
alleged that, the said amount was accordingly
collected by the petitioner herein, and delivered
the same to the first accused. Now as the
petitioner apprehend arrest in connection with the
investigation, this application for anticipatory
B.A.No.3007 of 2023
4
bail is submitted.
3.Heard Sri. Rajesh Kumar, the learned
counsel appearing for the petitioner and
Sri. C.S. Hrithwik, the learned Senior Public
Prosecutor for the State.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner
submits that he is innocent of all the
allegations. There is nothing to indicate the
role of the petitioner in commission of the said
crime. He was falsely implicated only because he
is the relative of the first accused. The
petitioner is ready and willing to cooperate with
the investigation and shall abide by any
conditions that may be imposed by this Court.
5.The learned Public Prosecutor, on the
other hand, opposes the said allegations by
pointing out that there are specific allegations
against the petitioner and the matter is being
investigated.
6.I have gone through the records and heard
the contentions raised from both sides. From the
B.A.No.3007 of 2023
5
materials placed before me, it is evident that
there are specific allegations against the
petitioner. The case of the prosecution is that,
the petitioner/9th accused is a hawala carrier,
and the relevant acts were committed by the other
accused based on the directions of the petitioner
herein. When going through the materials
available on record, and nature of allegations,
I am of the view that this is not a fit case in
which anticipatory bail can be granted. The
petitionerhastocooperatewiththe
investigation and for the said purpose, he has to
make himself available for interrogation.
In the result, this application is disposed of
with the following directions:-
1)The petitioner shall surrender before
the Investigation officer within a period of
two weeks from the date of reciept of copy of
this order, for subjecting himself for
interrogation;
2)Upon such surrender and after
interrogation, if any, the petitioner shall be
B.A.No.3007 of 2023
6
produced by the investigation officer before
the Jurisdictional Magistrate on the very same
day of surrender itself, to enable the
petitioner to seek bail;
3)The Jurisdictional Magistrate upon
production of the accused and filing of
application for bail, may consider the bail
application in accordance with law, and if
possible, dispose of the same on the very same
day of filing of the said application, subject
to such conditions, as deem fit.
Sd/-
ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A. JUDGE
SM
B.A.No.3007/2023
The rank of the Petitioner, accused no.8 occuring in
paragraph 2 of page no.2 of the final order dated
21/07/2023 in B.A.No.3007/2023 stands corrected and
substituted as accused no.9. Similarly, the reference of
the first accused in the 4 paragraph of the bail order
stand corrected as the relative of the 8 accused as per
order dated 22/08/2023 in Crl.M.A.No.1/2023 in
B.A.No.3007/2023.
Sd/-
Deputy Registrar
B.A.No.3007 of 2023
7
APPENDIX OF BAIL APPL. 3007/2023
PETITIONER ANNEXURES
AnnexureA1A TRUE COPY OF THE CONTRACTOR'S REGISTRATION
CARD ISSUED BY THE STATE GOVERNMENT IS
PRODUCED ALONG WITH THIS BAIL APPLICATION
AnnexureA2A TRUE COPY OF THE FIR IS PRODUCED ALONG WITH
THIS BAIL APPLICATION
AnnexureA3. A TRUE COPY OF THE SAID ORDER DATED
01.04.2023 PASSED BY THE DISTRICT AND
SESSIONS COURT, ERNAKULAM IS PRODUCED ALONG
WITH THIS BAIL APPLICATION
3 issues framed by the court
Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner who is the 8th/9th accused in a case involving cheating, extortion, and illegal possession.
Whether the specific allegations against the petitioner make the case unfit for the grant of anticipatory bail.
Whether conditions can be imposed for the petitioner to surrender and make himself available for interrogation.
3 provisions across 2 enactments
MUHAMMED SHABEER M.P
STATE OF KERALA
ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A.
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court