Research › Search › Judgment

Karnataka High Court · body

2020 DIGILAW 1966 (KAR)

G. Kedareshwara Rao v. State Of Karnataka

2020-10-01

SHIVASHANKAR AMARANNAVAR

body2020
JUDGMENT Shivashankar Amarannavar, J. - This petition is filed by the accused under Section 438 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Cr.P.C.', for brevity) seeking anticipatory bail in Crime No.18/2020 of Kampli Police Station, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 406, 408, 409 and 420 of The Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the 'IPC', for brevity). 2. The case of the prosecution is that the complainant-Sri.Jayatheerth, Regional Manager, Raichur, camp at Kampli, has alleged in the complaint that accused No.1-Ramesh was working as in-charge Manager of Food Corporation at Kampli since 23.11.2013 to 13.11.2019 and he, without obtaining the receipts from the bank, released the stock of paddy, rice and other food grains stored in the warehouse amounting to Rs.27,83,81,890/- in favour of the fake depositors by mingling with them for his wrongful gain and caused loss to the Food Corporation of India. It is further alleged that accused No.1-Ramesh being a public servant holding the management of said Corporation committed criminal breach of trust and cheated the Food Corporation of India. The said complaint came to be registered in Crime No.18/2020 by Kampli Police, Ballari, for the offence punishable under Sections 406, 408, 409 and 420 of IPC. The petitioner apprehending his arrest approached the learned III Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ballari sitting at Hosapete seeking anticipatory bail in Crl.Misc. No.5221/2020 and the same came to be rejected by order dated 07.09.2020. Therefore, the petitioner is before this Court seeking anticipatory bail. 3. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader for the respondent-State. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the name of the petitioner is not mentioned in the FIR. It is his further submission that the petitioner has been called by the police twice and he went to the police station and gave whatever information sought by the police and also co-operated in the investigation. It is his further submission that the petitioner has now received notice from the CPI, Kampli Circle dated 18.07.2020 stating that there is his involvement in the case and he has to appear before him on 26.07.2020 for enquiry and therefore the petitioner apprehends his arrest. It is his further submission that the petitioner is a farmer and there is no involvement of the petitioner in the commission of misappropriation. It is his further submission that the petitioner is a farmer and there is no involvement of the petitioner in the commission of misappropriation. It is his further submission that accused No.1 has been granted bail and therefore, on the ground of parity, the petitioner is also entitled for grant of anticipatory bail. With these, he prayed for allowing the petition. 5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader submitted that the accused No.1 in collusion with others has misappropriated the stock of paddy, rice and other food grains stored in the warehouse amounting to Rs.27,83,81,890/- and caused loss to the Food Corporation of India. It is her further submission that investigation is still under progress. It is her further submission that the petitioner, after receipt of notice, instead of appearing before the Investigating Officer for inquiry, has approached this Court seeking anticipatory bail. It is her further submission that custodial interrogation of the petitioner is necessary and therefore she prayed to reject the petition. 6. Having regard to the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned High Court Government Pleader, this Court has gone through the FIR, complaint and the notice issued by the CPI, Kampli Circle. 7. The complaint has been filed by one Sri.Jayatheerth, Regional Manager, Racihur, against accused No.1-Ramesh, who was working as in-charge Manager of the Food Corporation at Kampli alleging that he has released the stock of paddy, rice and other food grains stored in the warehouse without obtaining the receipt from the Bank and caused loss to the Food Corporation of India amounting to Rs.27,83,81,890/-. The name of the petitioner is not mentioned in the complaint and the FIR. The petitioner is a farmer who has stored his food grains in the warehouse and obtained loan. The petitioner apprehends his arrest as he has received notice from the CPI, Kampli Circle dated 18.07.2020 to appear before him for enquiry. 8. The offence alleged are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life and they are triable by the Judicial Magistrate First Class. The petitioner is the resident of the address shown in the cause title and the same is not disputed. 8. The offence alleged are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life and they are triable by the Judicial Magistrate First Class. The petitioner is the resident of the address shown in the cause title and the same is not disputed. The main objection of the prosecution is that in the event of grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner, he is likely to cause threat to the complainant and other prosecution witnesses and he will flee from justice and may not co-operate in the investigation. The said objection may be set right by imposing stringent condition. 9. In the facts and circumstances of the case and submission of the counsel, this Court is of the view that there are valid grounds for grant of anticipatory bail subject to certain terms and conditions. Hence, I pass the following: ORDER Criminal petition filed under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. is allowed. In the event of arrest of the petitioner in Crime No.18/2020 by Kampli Police, he shall be released on bail subject to following conditions: i. Petitioner shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh Only) with one surety for the like sum to the satisfaction of the Investigating Officer/jurisdictional Court. ii. The petitioner shall surrender before the Investigating Officer/Court within fifteen days from today. iii. The petitioner shall co-operate with the investigation and make himself available for interrogation whenever required. iv. The petitioner shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any witness acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or to any Police Officer. v. The petitioner shall not obstruct or hamper the Police investigation and not to play mischief with the evidence collected or yet be collected by the Police.