IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
Crl MC No. 524 of 2007()
1. DR. ANJANEYAN, AGED 66 YEARS,
... Petitioner
Vs
1. STATE OF KERALA THROUGH THE
... Respondent
For Petitioner :SRI.SUNNY MATHEW
For Respondent : No Appearance
The Hon'ble MR. Justice R.BASANT
Dated :28/02/2007
O R D E R
R. BASANT, J.
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Crl.M.C.No. 524 of 2007
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Dated this the 28th day of February, 2007
O R D E R
The petitioner, a medical practitioner, faces indictment for
offences punishable, inter alia, under Section 313 r/w. 34 I.P.C. He is
the 4th accused. Allegations are raised against the accused persons of
offences triable exclusively by a Court of Sessions. Investigation is
complete. Final report has already been filed. C.P. 40 of 2006 has
been registered before the learned J.F.C.M. – III, Palakkad. The
petitioner has not entered appearance so far. According to him, he
was not available in India. He was abroad. He has come to know of
the pendency of the proceedings and now wants to surrender before
the learned Magistrate. He apprehends that his application for bail
may not be considered by the learned Magistrate on merits, in
accordance with law and expeditiously. It is in these circumstances
prayed that directions under Section 482 Cr.P.C. may be issued to
the learned Magistrate to release the petitioner on bail.
2. I find no merit in the prayer of the petitioner. It is certainly
for the petitioner to appear before the learned Magistrate and
Crl.M.C.No. 524 of 2007 2
explain to the learned Magistrate the circumstances under which he could
not earlier appear before the learned Magistrate. The learned counsel for
the petitioner airs an apprehension that merely because the case is triable by
a Court of Sessions, the learned Magistrate may not consider the application
for bail on merits. It is by now trite that the mere fact the case is triable by a
Court of Sessions is by itself not a reason for the learned Magistrate to
abdicate his responsibility to consider an application for bail on merits. No
special or specific direction appears to be necessary. Sufficient general
directions have already been issued by this Court in the decision in Alice
George v. Dy.S.P. of Police (2003 (1) KLT 339).
3. This Crl.M.C. is accordingly dismissed, but subject to the above
observations/directions. I may hasten to observe that if the petitioner
appears before the learned Magistrate and applies for bail after giving
sufficient prior notice to the Prosecutor in charge of the case, the learned
Magistrate must proceed to pass orders on merits, in accordance with law
and expeditiously – on the date of surrender itself.
(R. BASANT)
Judge
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