Jothi v. The State Rep. By

P.DHANABAL,J.

The petitioner who apprehends arrest at the hands of the respondent police for the alleged offences under Sections 6(4) of TNSC (RDCS) order 1982, read with 7(1) a (ii) of E.C. Act, 1958, in Crime No.206 of 2024, on the file of the respondent police seeks anticipatory bail.

2. The case of the prosecution is that on 09.08.2024, the petitioner along with other accused was found illegally transporting 232 bags of PDS rice, each containing 50 kgs, in total 11600 kgs. Hence, the case.

3. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is an innocent person and she has not committed any such offence as alleged by the prosecution and that she has been falsely implicated in this case based on the confession of co-accused. Hence, he prayed to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner.

4. The learned Government Advocate (Crl. Side) appearing for the respondent police vehemently opposed to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner stating that there are totally 4 accused in this case and the petitioner is arrayed as A4 and that there are six previous cases against the petitioner. He further submitted that the specific overt-act against the petitioner is that, she used to collect PDS rice from the public and sell the same to Karnataka. He also submitted that the co-accused were arrested and 1/3

they are still in custody.

5. Taking into consideration the nature of offence and the quantity of PDS rice involved in this case and the fact that the petitioner has got previous cases of similar nature and further, the co-accused are still in custody, this Court declines to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner at this stage.

6. Accordingly, this Criminal Original Petition is dismissed. 23.08.2024 ksa-2 2/3

P.DHANABAL,J.

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