BABU NARAYANAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, whose application for anticipatory bail was dismissed by another bench of this court, as per order dated 20/12/2006, has come to this court now for enlargement of time for appearance before the investigating officer. The relevant observations appear in paragraph 3 of the order dated 20/12/2006 which I extract below:

(2.) The petitioner wants extension of time. He could not appear before the investigating officer within a period of seven days stipulated in the order.

(3.) I find no merit in the prayer for extension of time. The petitioner can, at any time, appear before the investigating officer or the learned Magistrate and seek bail. Needless to say, if the petitioner appears and applies for bail before the learned Magistrate after giving sufficient prior notice to the Public Prosecutor in charge of the case, the learned Magistrate must pass appropriate orders on merits, in accordance with law and expeditiously.