SOORAJ V. SUKUMAR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The right to seek pre-arrest bail is a creation of the statute, and the said right can be taken away by the statute itself. In tune with the aforesaid principle, sec. 18 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for short 'the Act'), curtailed the right of an accused alleged of offences committed under the Act to seek pre-arrest bail.

(2.) Sec. 18 of the Act was subjected to legal analysis in Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. State of Maharashtra and Another [(2018) 6 SCC 454]. Subsequently, sec. 18A was introduced into the statute. The Supreme Court again considered the issue in the judgment in Prathvi Raj Chauhan v. Union of India and Others [(2020) 4 SCC 727]. The Court held that despite the bar under Sec. 18 and 18A, in exceptional cases where a prima facie case under the Act is not made out, the bar of sec. 18 and 18A of the Act will not be attracted.

(3.) Be that as it may, petitioner is facing an indictment for offences punishable under Sec. 354A(1)(iv), 509, 294(b) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Sec. 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act 2000, apart from Sec. 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(1)(w)(ii) of the Act in Crime No.744 of 2022 of the Ernakulam Town South Police Station. He has invoked the jurisdiction of this Court for obtaining pre-arrest bail.