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TMI Blog2016 (2) TMI 416X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ew other factors enumerated above. The prosecutrix has moved an application in these proceedings for perusing new evidence on the basis of which she claims that the appellant has committed breach of conditions of anticipatory bail and regular bail. It is not necessary for us to go into the allegations made in this application. She would be at liberty to make such an application before the trial court for cancellation of bail. We may clarify that we have not gone through the merits of this application, and as and when such an application is made, the trial court would be free to examine the same and pass the order as the trial court deems fit in accordance with law. Before we part, in order to balance the equities, we are of the view that the trial in this case may be expeditiously conducted and the trial court should endeavour to complete the same within one year.As a result, we set aside the impugned judgment and restore the order of the learned Additional Sessions Judge granting anticipatory bail to the appellant on the conditions mentioned in the said order. Appeals are allowed in the aforesaid terms. - CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS. 1134-1135 OF 2015 [[arising out of Special Leav ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ial investigation under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as the 'Code'). Being not satisfied, the parties challenged the above order. The matter travelled up to this Court wherein certain directions were issued. Ultimately, the Police filed a revised chargesheet stating that a prima facie case under Section 376 IPC was also made out. In view of addition of charge under Section 376 IPC, the Magistrate passed the order on 25.04.2013 for committal of proceedings to the Sessions Court and taking the appellant into custody. However, execution of this order for taking the appellant into custody was stayed till 07.05.2013. During this period, the appellant moved the City Sessions Court No.16 at Ahmedabad for grant of anticipatory bail which was ultimately granted on 18.05.2013. Against this order of grant of anticipatory bail, the prosecutrix filed criminal revision petition which has been allowed by the High Court vide impugned order dated 18.07.2014 cancelling the anticipatory bail granted to the appellant. As pointed out above, it is the justification and legality of this order which is in question before us in the instant appea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Telav Village, beat her and forcefully raped her. He also threatened her not to narrate the above incident to anybody. Being scared of these threats, she did not tell the incident to anybody. Taking benefit of the circumstances, after one month he repeated the act of rape by giving the threat that if the prosecutrix did not agree, he would tell her husband and others. He took her to Hotel Ellis Town and raped her against her wishes. After that, he threatened her of dire consequences saying that he had taken her photographs. This way he continued to keep relations with the prosecutrix. This complaint further states that she shifted to Ahmedabad but even after coming to Ahmedabad, he started sending letters with the threat to defame her. At that stage, she told her husband and in-laws. She went to Jyoti Sangh, a NGO and encouraged by their support, she lodged the complaint of continuous harassment on the part of the appellant. 7. On 31.05.2001, her statement was recorded in the Police Station by the IO in which the allegations of misbehaviour by the appellant are contained and the entire statement reads as under: The plaintiff Manishaben dictates that though the compl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amend/alter the charge. However, in the revision petition filed against that order, the Sessions Court remanded the case for fresh consideration. After remand, the order dated 31.03.2012 was passed by the Metropolitan Magistrate directing further investigation under Section 173(8) of the Code implying thereby that the necessity of framing of such charge would depend upon the investigation carried out by the Police. Without stating the details, it suffices to mention that the matter was taken by all the parties to the Sessions Court and then to the High Court. Thereafter, the prosecutrix even came up to this Court by way of SLP (Crl.) No.636/2013 against the order dated 23.10.2012 passed by the High Court which had upheld the order of the Magistrate who had already ordered further investigation. Said SLP (Crl.) No.636/2013 was disposed of on 04.02.2013 taking note of the fact that though the Metropolitan Magistrate had ordered further inquiry by the Police on 31.03.2012 with direction to submit the report within four weeks, no such report had been submitted till that date. On that basis, following order was passed: We are informed that till today the police has not submitte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as the parties were trying to arrive at amicable settlement. The noting reads as under: This case file be kept pending and whenever we want, only then, you do contest this case again and it is the wish of both of them, this case is kept pending. Before me Vandana Patva 29.03.2001. Sd/- Manisha K. Mehta 29.03.2001 It was also pointed out that between 2001 and 2010, the prosecutrix did not appear to give her statement. However, the statement of one Vandana Patva, counsel in the said NGO was recorded. Mr. Dave referred to the cross-examination of the said witness wherein this witness had admitted that in the statement dated 31.05.2001 recorded by the Police, no fact regarding rape was stated. It was also not mentioned as to at which place and at what time, incident of rape had taken place. The learned senior counsel, thus, submitted that in these circumstances the learned Additional Session Judge rightly granted anticipatory bail. The reasons adopted by the High Court in cancelling the bail were commented upon by the learned counsel as not based on record, particularly, the observations of the High Court that the prosecutrix had to run a marathon for get ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... int to the ACP on 29.05.2001. According to her, in fact, the statement which was recorded on 31.05.2001 by the IO was not correctly recorded who intentionally omitted her statement concerning her rape by the appellant, though specifically stated. It is because of this reason that she had to file the application in the trial court for inclusion of charge under Section 376 IPC with the prayer that complaint dated 29.05.2001 before the ACP should be treated as the FIR and not the statement dated 31.05.2001 recorded by the IO. (f) She also submitted that she had to come up to this Court to have the charge for offence under Section 376 of IPC framed against the appellant. 13. Ms. Hemantika Wahi, learned counsel appearing for the State, supported the plea of the prosecutrix. Her submission was that once the charge under Section 376 IPC has been added which was a serious charge and the offence being non-bailable, the proper course of action was to direct the appellant to surrender before the trial court and apply for regular bail. Her submission was that having regard to the seriousness of this charge, it was not a case of anticipatory bail. 14. We have given our thoughtful ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was registered on the basis of statement recorded on 31.05.2001 and the chargesheet was filed making out a prima facie case only under Section 506(2) of IPC, the prosecutrix did not say anything at that time. There was no protest even when charge was framed by the concerned Magistrate only under Section 506(2) IPC. The objection in this regard was raised for the first time in the year 2008 i.e. almost 7 years after the framing of the charge and application was filed in the year 2010 for including the charge under Section 376 IPC as well on the ground that her complaint to the ACP given on 29.05.2001 be treated as FIR. The prosecutrix may have valid reasons for this delay. However, it is not for us to go into the same at this stage inasmuch as that is again a matter of trial and it would be for the Sessions Court to ultimately adjudge as to whether such delay was suitably explained and/or has any bearing on the merits of the charge. It is reiterated at the cost of repetition that we have to simply decide the question of feasibility of grant of anticipatory bail. 17. In a matter like this where allegations of rape pertain to the period which is almost 17 years ago and when ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... out is a Constitution Bench Judgment of this Court in the case of Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia and Others v. State of Punjab [(1980) 2 SCC 565] . The Constitution Bench in this case emphasized that provision of anticipatory bail enshrined in Section 438 of the Code is conceptualised under Article 21 of the Constitution which relates to personal liberty. Therefore, such a provision calls for liberal interpretation of Section 438 of the Code in light of Article 21 of the Constitution. The Code explains that an anticipatory bail is a pre-arrest legal process which directs that if the person in whose favour it is issued is thereafter arrested on the accusation in respect of which the direction is issued, he shall be released on bail. The distinction between an ordinary order of bail and an order of anticipatory bail is that whereas the former is granted after arrest and therefore means release from the custody of the police, the latter is granted in anticipation of arrest and is therefore, effective at the very moment of arrest. A direction under Section 438 is therefore intended to confer conditional immunity from the 'touch' or confinement contemplated by Section 46 of the Cod ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d from another angle, namely, an accused person who enjoys freedom is in a much better position to look after his case and to properly defend himself than if he were in custody. Thus, grant or non-grant of bail depends upon a variety of circumstances and the cumulative effect thereof enters into judicial verdict. The Court stresses that any single circumstance cannot be treated as of universal validity or as necessarily justifying the grant or refusal of bail. After clarifying this position, the Court discussed the inferences of anticipatory bail in the following manner: 31. In regard to anticipatory bail, if the proposed accusation appears to stem not from motives of furthering the ends of justice but from some ulterior motive, the object being to injure and humiliate the applicant by having him arrested, a direction for the release of the applicant on bail in the event of his arrest would generally be made. On the other hand, if it appears likely, considering the antecedents of the applicant, that taking advantage of the order of anticipatory bail he will flee from justice, such an order would not be made. But the converse of these propositions is not necessarily true. T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e likely to flow out of its intemperate use. 22. Another case to which we would like to refer is the judgment of a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Siddharam Satlingappa Mhetre v. State of Maharashtra and Others [(2011) 1 SCC 694]. This case lays down an exhaustive commentary of Section 438 of the Code covering, in an erudite fashion, almost all the aspects and in the process relies upon the aforesaid Constitution Bench judgment in Gurbaksh Singh's case. In the very first para, the Court highlighted the conflicting interests which are to be balanced while taking a decision as to whether bail is to be granted or not, as is clear from the following observations: 1. Leave granted. This appeal involves issues of great public importance pertaining to the importance of individual's personal liberty and the society's interest. Society has a vital interest in grant or refusal of bail because every criminal offence is the offence against the State. The order granting or refusing bail must reflect perfect balance between the conflicting interests, namely, sanctity of individual liberty and the interest of the society. The law of bails dovetails two conf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... There is no justification for reading into Section 438 CrPC the limitations mentioned in Section 437 CrPC. The plentitude of Section 438 must be given its full play. There is no requirement that the accused must make out a special case for the exercise of the power to grant anticipatory bail. This virtually, reduces the salutary power conferred by Section 438 CrPC to a dead letter. A person seeking anticipatory bail is still a free man entitled to the presumption of innocence. He is willing to submit to restraints and conditions on his freedom, by the acceptance of conditions which the court may deem fit to impose, in consideration of the assurance that if arrested, he shall be enlarged on bail. (v) The proper course of action on an application for anticipatory bail ought to be that after evaluating the averments and accusations available on the record if the court is inclined to grant anticipatory bail then an interim bail be granted and notice be issued to the Public Prosecutor. After hearing the Public Prosecutor the court may either reject the anticipatory bail application or confirm the initial order of granting bail. The court would certainly be entitled to impos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ossibility of the accused's likelihood to repeat similar or other offences; (e) Where the accusations have been made only with the object of injuring or humiliating the applicant by arresting him or her; (f) Impact of grant of anticipatory bail particularly in cases of large magnitude affecting a very large number of people; (g) The courts must evaluate the entire available material against the accused very carefully. The court must also clearly comprehend the exact role of the accused in the case. The cases in which the accused is implicated with the help of Sections 34 and 149 of the Penal Code, 1860 the court should consider with even greater care and caution, because overimplication in the cases is a matter of common knowledge and concern; (h) While considering the prayer for grant of anticipatory bail, a balance has to be struck between two factors, namely, no prejudice should be caused to free, fair and full investigation, and there should be prevention of harassment, humiliation and unjustified detention of the accused; (i) The Court should consider reasonable apprehension of tampering of the witness or apprehension of threat to the complainant; (j) F ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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