Raja Vijayaraghavan V., J.:— This application is filed under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
2. The applicants 1 and 4 are the accused in Crime No. 1386/2018 of Chirayankeezhu Police Station, registered under Section 498(A) of the IPC. the de facto complainant is the wife of the 1 applicant.
3. According to the de facto complainant, her marriage with the 1 applicant was solemnized on 18.03.2014 as per the provisions of Special Marriages Act, 1954. However, in course of time, the applicant Nos. 1 and 4 are alleged to have subjected her to matrimonial cruelty demanding dowry.
4. The learned counsel appearing for the applicants submitted that the parties fell apart due to minor differences and though earnest efforts were taken to settle the disputes, due to various reasons, the efforts did not materialise. He points out that though the provision was enacted to check and curb the menace of dowry, in the instant case, the provisions are being misused. The complaint has been filed in the heat of the moment and, according to the learned counsel, if the applicants are arrested and remanded, the chances of settlement and reunion will be irrevocably ruined.
5. I have heard the learned Public Prosecutor, who submitted that the applicant Nos 2, 3 and 5 have not been arrayed as accused in the said crime.
6. I have gone through the materials that have been made available. The allegations now levelled do not appear to be grave warranting arrest and detention of the applicant Nos. 1 and 4, who are the husband and mother-in-law of the de facto complainant. I am of the considered view that the custodial interrogation of the applicants are not necessary for an effective investigation in the instant case.
7. In the result, this application will stand allowed. The application insofar as it concerns applicant Nos. 2, 3 and 5 will stand closed. The applicant Nos. 1 and 4 shall appear before the investigating officer within ten days from today and shall undergo interrogation. Thereafter, if they are proposed to be arrested, they shall be released on bail on their executing a bond for a sum of Rs. 40,000/- (Rupees Forty thousand only) each with two solvent sureties each for the like sum. The above order shall be subject to the following conditions:
(i) The applicants shall co-operate with the investigation and the 1 applicant shall appear before the Investigating Officer on every Saturdays between 10 A.M. and 1 P.M. for a period of one month or till final report is filed whichever is earlier. The applicant No. 4 shall appear before the investigating officer and when she is called upon to do so.
ii) They shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer.
iii) They shall not commit any similar offence while on bail.
8. In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional Court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation, if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law.