Kerala High Court grants bail to two men accused of assaulting woman Advocate Commissioner

The Kerala High Court recently granted bail to the two persons who allegedly restrained and assaulted a woman advocate commissioner during a local inspection that she was conducting on the orders passed by a munsiff court [Sanu & Anr. v State of Kerala]..Justice Ziyad Rahman AA granted bail to the two men after taking note of the fact that the accused persons were in judicial custody since April 12 this year.“After taking into account all relevant aspects, including the fact that the petitioners have been under judicial custody since 12.04.2023, I am inclined to grant bail to the petitioners subject to appropriate conditions to ensure that they are not influencing the witnesses. This is mainly because, taking note of the period of detention undergone by the petitioners and the stage of the investigation, further incarceration of the petitioners appears to be not necessary,” the Court's order stated..The Court was considering a bail application filed by two persons charged of committing offences punishable under Sections 294(b) (obscene acts and songs), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public person from discharging duty), 324 (voluntarily hurt by dangerous weapons), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), and 506(i) (criminal intimidation), read with Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)..The prosecution case was that both the men wrongfully restrained the advocate commissioner while she came for local inspection to execute the order of a munsiff court in a case. It was alleged that the men assaulted the advocate commissioner, as well as an advocate clerk, and the de facto complainant, on account of which serious injuries were sustained by the de-facto complainant.Subsequently, a case was registered and both the accused persons were arrested on April 12 and sent to judicial custody..The counsel for the accused submitted that they are innocent and that they were falsely implicated in the case because of certain civil disputes between the parties.He further submitted that the accused persons are in custody since April 12, and there is no purpose in keeping them under detention any longer..However, the public prosecutor submitted that the allegations against the accused were serious in nature and during the investigation, the offence under Section 326 was incorporated taking note of the injuries sustained by the de facto complainant..The Court accepted the submission of the counsel of the accused person’s that they were under judicial custody since April 12 and therefore, granted bail to both the accused persons subject to conditions..The accused were represented by advocates Saijo Hassan, Rajalakshmi R, and Saritha K.The respondent State was represented by advocate Seetha S (senior public prosecutor)..[Read Order]