Not Likely To Flee Away From Justice: Karnataka High Court Grants Bail To Deputy Superintendent Of Police In Abetment Of Suicide Case
|The Karnataka High Court allowed a Criminal Petition of the accused DSP seeking regular bail in a case registered under Section 7(a) of the PC Act and Section 108 of the BNS.
The Karnataka High Court has granted bail to a female Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) who was accused of abetment of suicide of a woman.
The Court was hearing a Criminal Petition filed by the accused DSP seeking regular bail in a case registered under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) and Section 108 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).
A Single Bench of Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty observed, “The maximum punishment for the alleged offence is imprisonment for a period of ten years. Since the petitioner is a Government Servant there cannot be any apprehension that she is likely to flee away from justice.”
Senior Advocate M.S. Shyam Sundar represented the Petitioner while Addl. SPP Vijayakumar Majege and Advocate Aravind Kamath P. represented the Respondents.
Brief Facts
An FIR was registered by the police based on an information received from the sister of the deceased. During the investigation, the Petitioner-accused was arrested and was then remanded to judicial custody. As the Bail Application filed by her before the Sessions Court was rejected, she was before the High Court. It was alleged that the accused harassed and ill-treated the deceased under the guise of interrogating her.
It was further alleged that the deceased left a detailed death note. The senior counsel for the accused submitted that in the said death note, the deceased did not make any allegation of demand for bribe by the accused. On the other hand, the SPP contended that since the accused is a police officer, the chances of manipulating the records or tampering the prosecution witnesses cannot be ruled out.
Reasoning
The High Court in the above context of the case, remarked, “Petitioner herein is a married lady, who is serving as Deputy Superintendent of Police in CID, Bengaluru. Learned SPP has fairly brought to the notice of this Court that investigation of the case is already completed and draft charge sheet is prepared and submitted before this Court in compliance of the order passed in Crl.P.No.12695/2024.”
The Court noted that Psychological Autopsy Report suggests deceased was concerned about her sister getting embroiled in the Bhovi Development Corporation case.
“Investigation in the present case is now completed and charge sheet is already prepared. Considering the aforesaid aspects of the matter and also having regard to the Proviso to Section 480(1) of BNSS, 2023, I am of the opinion that the prayer made by the petitioner for grant of regular bail needs to be answered affirmatively”, it held.
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the Petition and granted bail to the accused DSP on executing a personal bond of Rs. 1 lakh with two sureties for the like sum, to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.
Cause Title- Kanaka Lakshmi B.M. v. State of Karnataka & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2025:KHC:16581)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Senior Advocate M.S. Shyam Sundar and Advocate Surya Mukundaraj L.
Respondents: Addl. SPP Vijayakumar Majege and Advocate Aravind Kamath P.