Fact That He Was PFI Member By Itself Won’t Attract Incarceration: Kerala HC Grants Bail To Accused In RSS Worker’s Murder Case
The Kerala High Court has granted bail to the accused being allegedly involved in the murder of RSS (Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh) member Sanjith.
The accused Muhammed Haroon, an alleged member of the banned organization PFI (Popular Front of India) had filed an application before the Court, seeking bail.
A Single Bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. observed, “As far as the petitioner in this case is concerned, he has been in custody since 23.01.2022 and thus, more than two years and nine months have elapsed. Moreover, the petitioner was never involved in any other offences in the past. Even though there is an allegation that he was an active member of PFI, a banned organisation, it was contended by the petitioner that, as on the date of commission of the crime, it was not banned. The said contention is not denied by the prosecution. Therefore, the fact that he was a member of such an organisation, by itself, would not attract any culpability, warranting incarceration, and it is for the prosecution to establish the role of the petitioner, in the trial.”
Senior Advocate Raghenth Basant appeared on behalf of the petitioner/accused while Senior Advocate Grashious Kuriakose appeared on behalf of the respondent/State.
In this case, the offences alleged against the petitioner/accused were under Sections 143,144,147,148,341,302,120B, 201,212,109,118, 465, 471 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 27(3) read with 7(a) and (b) of the Arms Act, 1959. The prosecution case was that, in 2021, due to political animosity, one Sanjith, an RSS worker was attacked by the accused persons with swords and sticks, while he was travelling along with his wife. Due to the injuries inflicted upon the body of the said Sanjith, he died.
The crime was initially registered against the five accused persons and during the investigation, the petitioner was implicated as the 6th accused, on the ground that the murder was committed on the basis of a conspiracy hatched between the accused including the petitioner. According to the prosecution, out of the seven conspiracies, the petitioner had participated in five conspiracies, and one of the same took place on the property of the petitioner. As part of the investigation, the petitioner was arrested in 2022 and since then he was under judicial detention. Even though he approached the High Court on two occasions, seeking bail, the said applications were rejected.
The High Court in view of the above facts, noted, “… the petitioner has been in judicial custody for more than two years and nine months. It is not the case of the prosecution that the petitioner physically participated in the act of murder, but on the other hand, the allegations against him are confined to the criminal conspiracy, which is to be proved at the time of trial. Further, there is no allegation that petitioner committed any acts for aiding the accused 1 to 5 to commit the murder.”
The Court further said that, even though the charges were framed against the petitioner as early as on December 18, 2023, so far, the trial has not been scheduled and therefore, the chances of the trial taking place in the near future appear to be bleak.
“The accused persons who were granted bail in that crime were implicated for taking part in the conspiracy, and some of the said accused were having criminal antecedents as well. This court granted bail, taking note of the fact that they had been in judicial detention for more than one and a half years”, it added.
Therefore, taking note of the period of incarceration of the petitioner, possible delay in completing the trial, and the nature of allegations against him, the Court decided to grant bail to him.
Accordingly, the High Court directed that the accused be released on bail on executing a bond of Rs. 1 lakh with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.
Cause Title- Muhammed Haroon v. State of Kerala
Appearance:
Petitioner: Senior Advocate Raghenth Basant, Advocates M.A. Ahammad Saheer, E.A. Haris, and Muhammed Yasil.
Respondent: Senior Advocate Grashious Kuriakose
