Alleged Offence Is Grave In Nature: Karnataka HC Denies Bail To Woman Who Conspired With Her Lover To Kill Her Husband
|The Karnataka High Court denied bail to a woman who was charged along with her lover for killing her husband.
The Bench headed by Justice Mohammad Nawaz held that “At this stage, there is a prima facie case against the petitioner. The offence alleged is grave in nature. Merely because the petitioner is a woman is not a ground to enlarge her on bail.”
Advocate Sri Gopal appeared for the Petitioner while the High Court Government Pleader on behalf of the Respondent was Advocate R.D Renukaradhya.
In the present case, a Chargesheet was filed against the Petitioner for offences under Section 120(B), 118, 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 was the wife of the deceased. The Petitioner was having an illicit affair with Accused No.2.
The Deceased was working in Bengaluru, while the Petitioner was staying with her 2 minor children in Andhra Pradesh. The Deceased planned to move his family to Bengaluru for better education which the Petitioner did not like. Hence, along with Accused No.2, the Petitioner conspired to kill her husband.
After moving to Bengaluru, at around 11:30 at night, the Petitioner stabbed her husband with a knife on his neck, killing him immediately. Further, the Petitioner injured herself and removed some of her jewelleries to show that it was a case of robbery.
Initially, the case was registered against unknown persons but soon the Petitioner and her lover were apprehended by the police.
The Counsel for Petitioner submitted that the allegations were false and that the petitioner herself suffered injuries. Further, because she is a woman and in jail since September 24, 2022, the petitioner should be granted bail. Reliance was also placed on CrL.P.No. 7503/2022, in which Accused No.2 was granted bail.
The High Court Government Pleader opposed the bail and further added that the primary witness is the son of the petitioner and deceased, and releasing the petitioner will lead to an undue influence of the witness son.
The Court after carefully examining the facts and submissions concluded that “there is a prima facie case against the petitioner. The offence alleged is grave in nature. Merely because the petitioner is a woman is not a ground to enlarge her on bail. Insofar as accused no.2 is concerned, who has been granted bail by this Court in CrL.P.No. 7503/2022, the allegations are that he conspired with the petitioner. Hence, grant of bail to the said accused will not enure to the benefit of the petitioner.”
Accordingly, the bail petition was dismissed.
CAUSE TITLE: Dilli Rani v. State of Karnataka [Neutral Citation No.: 2023: KHC: 19995]