MHANUMANTHA REDDY Vs. GOVERNMENT OF MYSORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition was filed under Section 497, Cr. P. C. and another petition under Section 498 was filed on 4-4-52 in Court, supported by an affidavit and a Doctor's certificate. Both these petitions contain a prayer for enlarging the petitioner on bail. The Advocate-General stated that there was no objection to treat the earlier petition itself as having been filed under Section 498.

(2.) For an alleged attempt made on 24-3-1952 to commit murder by strangulation, the petitioner was arrested and a case against him was registered under Section 307, I. P. C. The applications for bail filed by him in the Court of the City Magistrate, Bangalore, before whom he was produced in the course of investigation, have been rejected.

(3.) The offence under Section 307, I. P. C. is a non-bailable one. The Criminal Procedure Code under Section 496 provides for granting bail in offences Other than non-bailable, and Section 497 regulates the admission to bail in non-bailable cases. While under Section 496 a person may be released on bail invariably on an application in that behalf, Section 497 places a limitation on the powers of a Magistrate in that respect. A distinction is drawn under Section 497 between non-bailable offences which are punishable with death or transportation for life and other non-bailable offences. A Magistrate is vested with discretion to release any person accused of a non-bailable offence on bail except in cases where there appear reasonable grounds for believing that the person is guilty of an offence punishable with death or transportation for life. It is argued for the prosecution that the offence alleged to have been committed by the petitioner is of a grave and serious character punishable with transportation for life, that in the light of the evidence so far collected, the Magistrate has come to the reasonable belief that such an offence has been committed and refused to admit the petitioner to bail and that in such circumstances the High Court ought not to interfere with the discretion exercised by the Magistrate unless the order rejecting the bail is perverse or manifestly wrong. On the other hand, it is contended on behalf of the petitioner that no offence punishable with transportation for life has been committed and even so, the High Court has unfettered discretion under Section 498, Cr. P. C. to grant bail if the circumstances of the case permit, irrespective of the limitations imposed by Section 497 on the trial Magistrate.