MUTHURAMALINGAM Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, who was arrested and remanded to judicial custody on 26/1/2023, in connection with Crime No.31 of 2023, registered under Sec. 174 Cr.P.C and later, altered for the alleged offences punishable under Ss. 120(B), 201 and 302 of IPC, on the file of the respondent, seeks bail.

(2.) The case of the prosecution as per the de-facto complainant/Vanitha, is that her husband/deceased, who was a practicing Advocate, was found dead in the car. On the complaint given by her, a case in Crime No.31 of 2023 was registered under Sec. 174 Cr.P.C. During the course of investigation, it came to light that the accused, who are the clients of the victim/deceased, on account of the previous dispute with regard to the purchase of contraband and also due to some financial dispute, had taken the victim/deceased in a car and had committed the murder by strangulating him with seat belt and escaped from the scene of occurrence. Thereby, the case has been altered to one under Ss. 120(B), 201 and 302 of IPC. Hence the case.

(3.) Learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent person and he had been falsely implicated in this case. He would submit that this is a second bail application and the earlier application for bail filed in Crl.O.P.No.12837 of 2023 has been dismissed on 9/6/2023 since it was represented by the learned Government Advocate (Crl.side) that the petitioner is said to have been involved in 15 previous cases. He would further submit that out of 15 previous cases, the petitioner has been acquitted in 8 cases and he has been attending the trials regularly in all other remaining cases. He would also submit that originally the case has been registered under Sec. 174 Cr.P.C. and later, only based on the suspicion, the petitioner and the other accused had been implicated in this case. He would further submit that the committal proceedings had been over and the petitioner and other accused, who has been granted bail has been ordered to appear before the learned Principal Sessions Judge, Krishnagiri on 30/8/2023. He would further submit that the petitioner has a permanent residence at Sivaganga and his close relatives are ready to stand as sureties to him. He would also submit that the petitioner is also ready to abide by any stringent conditions that may be imposed by this Court. The petitioner has to come out and engage a counsel to conduct a case. Thereby, he seeks for grant of bail to the petitioner.