[BAIL] Questions & Answers By Justice V. Ramkumar- Anticipatory Bail [Part-VI]

Q.26 Whether a person who apprehends arrest not by a police officer, can seek anticipatory bail under Section 438 Cr.P.C?

Ans. Yes. (Vide –
H.S Manjunath v. State of Karnataka 1995 Cri.LJ 179 (Karnataka- apprehended arrest by a Forest Officer) – S. A. Hakeem, J. Eswara Prasad - JJ;

E. Joseph v. The Asst. Collector of Customs, Tuticorin 1982 Cri.L.J. 559 (Madras - Apprehended arrest by Customs Officer) – Swamikkannu - J;

Suresh Vasude v. State 1978 Cri.LJ 677 (Delhi- Apprehended arrest by an Officer under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act,1973) – Yogeswar Dayal - J;

Sunny v. State of Kerala 1998 (2) KLT 494 = ILR 1998 (3) Kerala 857 (Kerala- Apprehended arrest by Excise Inspector under the Kerala Abkari Act) – P. V. Narayanan Nambiar - J;

Balchand Jain v. State of M.P. (1976) 4 SCC 72 = AIR 1977 SC 366 – 3 Judges (Apprehended arrest under Rule 184 of the Defence and Internal Security of India Rules, 1971) – P. N. Bhagwati, A. C. Gupta, Murtaza Fazl Ali - JJ.

Q. 27 Whether a person who is in custody in connection with one crime, can seek anticipatory bail in connection with another crime?

Ans. Yes. The apprehension of arrest in connection with another crime can be had by an accused who is in custody in yet another crime. A person in custody can be arrested in connection with another crime by the police officer after taking the permission of the Court which had remanded him to judicial custody and then touching him on the body. (Vide CBI v. Anupam J Kulkarni (1992) 3 SCC 141 = AIR 1992 SC 1768 – A. M. Ahmadi, K. Jayachandra Reddy - JJ). See also Narinderjit Singh v. Union of India (2002) 2 SCC 210 = AIR 2001 SC 3810 – G. B. Pattanaik, Umesh C. Banerjee, S. N. Variava - JJ.

Q.28 Can “a child in conflict with law” within the meaning of Section 2 (13) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, maintain an application for anticipatory bail claiming protection from his apprehension by the police for offences under the IPC?

Ans. Yes. (Vide –

Gopakumar v. State of Kerala 2012 (4) KHC 841 = 2012 (4) KLT 755 - S. S. Satheesachandran – JJ;

Mr. X v. State of Kerala 2018 (3) KHC 223 = ILR 2018 (3) Ker 161 – R. Narayana Pisharadi – J - Division Bench ruling of the Madras High Court in K. Vignesh v. State- MANU/TN/1491/2017 = 2017 (1) Law Weekly (Crl) 878 dissented from;

Vishwa Mitter v. O.P.Poddar AIR 1984 SC 5 - D. A. Desai, Amarendra Nath Sen – JJ – (Held that in the absence of any special qualification for the complainant prescribed by the special statute, Section 4 (2) Cr.P.C. will govern the special statute also and any person can file a complaint);

Sudhir Sharma v. State of Chattisgarh- MANU/CG/0449/2017 –Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, Goutam Bhaduri – JJ).

Q.29 Is the principle applicable regarding regular bail application that successive bail applications are not maintainable without there being change in circumstances, applicable in the case of anticipatory bail applications ?

Ans. Yes. (Vide Pandi M. @ Pechi Pandi v. State of Kerala 2018 (4) KLT 249 = 2018 (4) KHC 782 – R. Naryana Pisharadi - JJ).

Q.30 Supposing, by means of a State Amendment, Section 438 Cr.P.C dealing with anticipatory bail has been repealed so far as that State is concerned, as in the case of Uttar Pradesh, has an accused person got a remedy against illegal arrest?

Ans. Yes. In an appropriate case the High Court can grant an interim protection from arrest in exercise of its power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. (Vide Km. Hema Mishra v. State of UP and Others (2014) 4 SCC 453 = AIR 2014 SC 1066 - K. S. Radhakrishnan, A. K. Sikri – JJ - Followed in Arnab Manoranjan Goswami v. State of Maharashtra (SC) AIR 2021 SC 1 – Dr. D. Y. Chandrachud – J.)