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2020 DIGILAW 1972 (KAR)

Kalakappa v. State Of Karnataka

2020-10-01

SHIVASHANKAR AMARANNAVAR

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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.208/2020 of Kustagi Police Station, registered for an offence under Section 3 punishable under Section 7 of Essential Commodities Act, 1955( (hereinafter referred to as the EC Act, for brevity). 2. The case of the prosecution is that the Food Inspector namely Sri. Nitin has filed a complaint against the petitioner/accused alleging that on 18.08.2020 at about 5.50 pm when he was in the house, he received phone call from the Tasildhar, Kustagi, alleging that the petitioner has stored rice bags in the godown i.e., Sri,. Chandramouleshwar Trading Company. Based on the said information, the complainant went to the spot along with police staff and panchas and conducted raid where they noticed that the petitioner has illegally stored fare price rice bags in room No.3 without holding any licence or permission and the complainant seized 36 plastic bags of rice of 50kg, in total 1805 kg of rice worth Rs.46,800/-. On enquiry, the petitioner is the owner of Sri.Chandramouleshwar Trading company and at the time of raid, he ran away from the scene of occurrence. The said complaint came to be registered in Crime No.208/2020 for the offence under Section 3 punishable under Section 7 of the EC Act. The petitioner approached the learned Prl. District and Sessions Judge, Koppal, seeking anticipatory bail and the same came to be rejected on 11.09.2020. 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 rice stored by the petitioner is not the fare price goods meant for supply to BPL card holders but they are given by his customers for storing them. It is his further submission that the punishment for the offence alleged is imprisonment for 3 months which may extend to 7 years and is triable by the Judicial Magistrate First Class. It is his further submission that the petitioner is the resident of B.B. Nagar, Kustagi and is ready to abide by any terms and conditions that may be imposed by this Court while granting anticipatory bail. It is his further submission that the petitioner is the resident of B.B. Nagar, Kustagi and is ready to abide by any terms and conditions that may be imposed by this Court while granting anticipatory bail. It is his further submission that the petitioner apprehends his arrest as his name is mentioned in the FIR. With these, he prayed for allowing the petition. 5. Per contra, learned High Court Government Pleader submitted that the complainant has received information and conducted raid and found 36 plastic bags of rice of 50 kg, in total 1805 kg of rice worth Rs.46,800/- and it is a fare price goods meant for supply to the BPL card holders. It is her further submission that the case is still under investigation and if the petitioner is granted anticipatory bail, he will flee from justice and will not be available for investigation and trial. With this, she prayed to dismiss 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 perused the complaint, FIR and the mahazar. 7. The petitioner is the proprietor of Sri.Chandramouleshwar Trading Company. The complainant has seized 36 plastic bags of rice of 50 kg, in total 1805 kg of rice worth Rs.46,800/- from the godown of the petitioner. It is the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that the said rice bags are not meant for supply as the fare price goods to the BPL card holders but they are belonging to the customers who have kept them in his godown. The offence alleged under Section 3 punishable under Section 7 of EC Act is triable by the Judicial Magistrate First Class and the punishment prescribed for the said offence is imprisonment for 3 months which may extend to 7 years. The said offence is not punishable either with death or imprisonment for life. The petitioner is the permanent resident of B.B. Nagar, Kustagi and his presence could be secured easily. 8. 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. 8. 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.208/2020, he shall be released on bail subject to the 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.