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TMI Blog2018 (3) TMI 1952X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... leeding and was unconscious. He was asked to apologize to Harris, as he is the son of a local MLA. In spite of repeated requests, they did not stop hitting Vidwat. Later on, Vidwat was shifted to Mallya Hospital. He was taken to Intensive Care Unit. Those 10 - 15 people came to the hospital and again threatened and abused Vidwat. Based on this report, initially the Cubbon Park police registered a case of crime in relation to the offences punishable under sections 506, 506B, 326, 141, 143, 144, 146, 147, 341 read with section 149 of IPC. Subsequently, the offence punishable under section 307 of IPC was added in the FIR. 3. The petitioner moved the Court of Session for bail and his application was rejected. Therefore, the petitioner is before this Court 4. I have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri C.V. Nagesh and the Special Public Prosecutor, Sri M.S. Shyamsundar, assisted by advocate Sri Murthy Dayanand Naik appearing for applicant, Sri A. Alam Pasha whose application under section 301(2) Cr.P.C. was allowed 5. The learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that a drunken brawl in a bar and restaurant has unnecessarily been given a hype by the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l, he had consciousness, that he was well oriented and vital signs like temperature, B.P., P.R., S.P.O. 2 (Oxygen saturation) were in normal range. The C.T. Scan chest revealed un-displaced hairline fracture of lateral angles of 4th to 9th ribs on right side and 4th to 8th ribs on the left side. These fractures did not require surgical intervention. When he was in I.C.U., he was able to speak. He was advised to eat from day one, but he could not eat because of swelling. He took liquids as much as he could. He started recovering from 20.2.2018 itself. Because of his fast recovery, he was considered to be shifted out of I.C.U. On the insistence of his family members, he was kept in I.C.U. A cardiologist who examined him, found that he was normal and fit to be transferred out of I.C.U. He was found fit to be discharged from the hospital on 27.2.2018 or 28.2.2018. The other doctors also opined that Vidwat could be sent home. On 25.2.2018, Vidwat made series of complaints and his behavior was such as to fabricate the physical symptoms (malingering). He refused discharge. The doctor has clearly written in the discharge summary that the injuries sustained by the patient were not life thre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r bail. 11. The learned Spl Public Prosecutor argues that it was not a drunken brawl that took place in the restaurant; it was an authoritarian and tyrannical exhibition of might to thwart an innocent person who was unknown to the petitioner before that incident took place. The injured had a fractured leg and because of that he had kept his leg stretched which the petitioner did not like when he entered the restaurant. This was the root cause for the incident which resulted in the petitioner and his gang men mercilessly and ruthlessly assaulting the injured which had all the consequences of taking away his life, but for the timely medical intervention. 12. He argues that the influence of the petitioner can be demonstrated from the records available before the court. His line of argument is that the investigation officer was not provided with discharge summary in spite of requesting the hospital authorities repeatedly, though he has all the right to have a copy of it for the purpose of fair investigation. But the petitioner is able to produce a copy of discharge summary which is also found to be unbelievable because it was signed by a doctor who is very well known to one person wh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... blic Prosecutor referred to the argument of Sri C.V. Nagesh, who emphasized the word 'jug' to stress the point that it is not an instrument which is likely to cause death, if used as a weapon. From this argument, it is clear that even before the court, a false representation has been made. The word 'ring' is intentionally misread as 'jug'. Therefore, the intention of the petitioner to suppress the facts, even before the court, can be seen. 15. Another point that he raises is that the first informant went to the police station at 11.45 p.m. The complaint was not registered immediately. The FIR shows that it was registered at 3.30 a.m. on 18.2.2018. The inspector-in-charge of Cubbon Park Police station did not register FIR immediately on coming to know that it was lodged against the son of a sitting MLA. The station house officer would go to the extent of receiving counter complaint against the injured Vidwat from one Arun Babu. It was registered in Crime No. 23/2018 in relation to an incident said to have taken place at 10.30 p.m. on 17.2.2018 at Fergy Cafe. Though this report made by Arun Babu was registered at 5.30 a.m., he was taken to Bowring and Lady Cu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... estigation is not completed and therefore, the petitioner cannot be enlarged on bail. 19. The learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri C.V. Nagesh gave a lengthy reply. Reiterating that the incident was nothing but a group clash and a drunken brawl, he argued that the complaint made by Praveen Venkatachalaiah and the spot panchanama written by the I.O. do not show the specific overt act of the petitioner. Allegations are made against some others whose names do not appear either in the complaint or in the panchanama. Therefore there is no prima facie material against the petitioner. 20. With regard to the word 'jug' that he emphasized while arguing on the first day, he replied that what is written in the complaint is 'jug' only. If it could be read as 'ring', the letter 'n' is not seen there. Therefore, he has correctly employed the word 'jug' which could have been used at the time of assault. In this regard, he submitted that even if it could be read as 'ring' for argument sake, the police should have seized the rings during investigation. The seizure panchanama shows seizure of two material objects, viz. glass pieces and ice buckets ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ily delaying to give statement to the police. In support of his argument, he has produced the copy of a shared article from a web-site. Therefore, it is his argument that the statement of Dr. Anand further fortifies the contents of the discharge summary, which cannot be brushed aside at least to the extent of nature of injuries sustained by Vidwat, let alone another statement, which refers to not happening of any untoward incident in the hospital. 24. He further referred to a caveat petition filed by a TV channel against the petitioner's father and argued that this is the amount of interest that the media channels are trying to make a false propaganda against the petitioner and his father. The materials placed before the court clearly show that the injuries sustained by Vidwat do not take the whole case beyond section 325 of IPC. 25. At last, he referred to two judgments of the Supreme Court in the case of Shyam Sharma v. State of Madhya Pradesh and another [(2017) 9 SCC 362] and Ved Pal v. State of U.P. [1987 (Supp) Supreme Court Cases 596] and some of the judgments of this court in Mohammed Ali v. State of Karnataka [2016 (2) Kar.L.J. 505], Budeppa Gouda and another v. Stat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... according to the prosecution papers, was not drunk. Insofar as the petitioner is concerned, he also entered the restaurant at 10.20 p.m. and the entire incident broke out soon after his arrival to the restaurant. Probably, he too was not in a drunken state at that time. Therefore, the entire argument of the learned petitioner's counsel that the incident was nothing but a drunken brawl, cannot be accepted. 28. In regard to the argument that from the materials available on record, only the offence under section 325 of IPC could be made out, is also not acceptable. The medical report shows that the injured Vidwat has sustained grievous injuries. In the first information report there is a reference to using bottles and rings for assaulting the injured. Just because the medical records do not disclose even a scratch-mark on the person of the injured, it cannot be said that the bottles were not used for assaulting. Whether a bottle can be employed as an instrument for inflicting injuries or not, depends on how it is made use of. It is not necessary always that the bottle must be broken and used for committing an offence. The bottle which is a hard substance, if used for assault, is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... layed to register the complaint although it was made at 11.45 p.m. on 17.2.2018. In the meantime one Arun Babu made a complaint against Vidwat and it was registered at 5.30 a.m. on 18.2.2018 in Crime No. 23/2018. Though this complaint was registered at 5.30 a.m., this Arun Babu was taken to Bowring Hospital for treatment and there this Arun Babu would disclose history of assault on him at 12.00 a.m. on 18.2.2018, but by that time Vidwat had already been admitted to Mallya Hospital, Therefore, the incident alleged by Arun Babu cannot be per se believed and as rightly argued by the Special Public Prosecutor, it could be a stage managed complaint at the instance of the petitioner. The learned counsel for the petitioner while replying, very intelligently, did not meet this point at all. He only submitted that a case and a counter case were registered. At this stage, I am of the pinion that the very registration of a case at the instance of Arun Babu appears to be due to intervention of a police officer. Inference can be drawn to this effect and therefore unhesitatingly it can be said that from the first hour itself, the petitioner tried to manage the police and definitely it was an act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... erefore there were no materials connecting the petitioner to an offence punishable under section 326 or 307 of IPC. The learned counsel has explained the source of access to discharge summary. The I.O. issued notice to doctor calling upon his explanation for not providing a copy of the discharge summary to him. Copy of this notice is produced by the Spl public prosecutor. The discharge summary is issued to patient at the time of his discharge from the hospital. In a medico legal case, the investigation officer is entitled to a copy of it. Before the investigation officer could get a copy of it, if discharge summary could be accessed by a TV Channel, it only shows somebody's intervention. It is true, as has been argued by Sri C.V. Nagesh, the prosecution had with it, a document pertaining to nature of injuries sustained by Vidwat, but nothing can be made out from the prosecution records that on 5.3.2018, investigation officer was provided with a copy of discharge summary. Be that controversy as it may, the source of access can also be ignored; but the way it is written cannot be ignored. Especially the sentence that 'no untoward incident took place ....' cannot be ignore ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... idwat, which attempt, in my opinion, should be adversely considered. 34. Insofar as the position of the petitioner in the society is concerned, he is the son of a sitting MLA and wields power. This can be very much made out after watching footages of a CC TV coverage. The way he and his men attacked the injured brutally shows the exhibition of wielding muscle power. The fact that nobody in the restaurant did not come to the rescue of the injured, is also one factor which cannot be ignored. The entire incident appears to be horrifying and terrifying. Therefore, if a person who wields such an authority and mighty power, if released on bail, it is sure that he uses his position to destroy the evidence. Indeed, bail is a matter concerning the liberty of a person who is detained in prison; pre-conviction detention is discouraged. The Hon'ble Supreme Court while dealing with incidents of this nature has held in Neeru Yadav's case (supra) as below: 13. We will be failing in our duty if we do not take note of the concept of liberty and its curtailment by law. It is an established fact that a crime though committed against an individual, in all cases, it does not retain an indivi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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