S.Bharathi v. The State Rep. By

A.D.JAGADISH CHANDIRA, J.

The petitioners who were arrested and remanded to judicial custody on 02.04.2023 for the offences punishable under Sections 489B and 489C of IPC in Crime No.307 of 2023, on the file of the respondent police, seek bail.

2. The case of the prosecution is that on 02.04.2023, during vehicle check up, the respondent police intercepted a vehicle driven by two persons/A1 and A2 and they were found in possession of 70 nos. of counterfeit notes of Rs.500/- denomination and during the course of investigation, house search was also conducted and in total 120 nos. of counterfeit notes were recovered from them. Hence, the case.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioners would submit that the petitioners are innocent persons and they have been falsely implicated in this case. He would submit that petitioner in Crl.O.P.No.8880 of 2023 has been arrayed as A1 and the petitioner in Crl.O.P.No.8819 of 2023

has been arrayed as A3. A1 is a professional Photographer and A3 is his friend and he is working as a A.C. Mechanic. A1 being a photographer, had kept Xerox notes for shooting purpose and other than that he has not committed any offence and after his arrest, A3 went to police station but he was also falsely arrested in this case. However, nothing was recovered from A3 and the petitioners have been in judicial custody from 02.04.2023. Hence, he prayed for grant of bail to the petitioners.

4. The learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side) appearing for the respondent police would submit that the petitioners along with other accused were found in possession of 120 nos. counterfeit notes of Rs.500/- denomination. He would further submit that the petitioners were arrested very recently on 02.04.2023 and the investigation is at the nascent stage. He also submitted that the seized notes have to be sent for chemical analysis and further investigation has to be done with regard to the source of the counterfeit notes. Hence, he prayed for dismissal of the present petitions.

5. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side) appearing for the respondent police and perused the materials available on record.

6. Taking into consideration the nature of offence and the fact that the case has been registered very recently on 02.04.2023 and that the investigation is at the very nascent stage, this Court is not inclined to grant bail to the petitioners.

7. Accordingly, these Criminal Original Petitions are dismissed. 24.04.2023 ksa-2

A.D.JAGADISH CHANDIRA, J.

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