Bombay HC asks 3 accused in suicide case to surrender, be in custody before seeking bail

The Bombay high court (HC), while observing that a bail application could not be entertained without the applicants being taken into custody, directed three accused in a suicide, to surrender before the magistrate first and then apply for bail

The Bombay high court (HC), while observing that a bail application could not be entertained without the applicants being taken into custody, directed three accused in a suicide, to surrender before the magistrate first and then apply for bail. HC held that the applicants had “abused the process of law” while surrendering before the magistrate, and immediately applying for bail without being subjected to interrogation in the case – which was serious in nature – and hence, rejected their bail application.

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The three applicants, a woman and her two daughters, are accused of instigating the woman’s daughter-in-law to commit suicide.

The single bench of justice PD Naik, while hearing the bail application of the three women, was informed by advocate Ajinkya Udane that the victim died by suicide last September in Shirur town of Pune district, a month after her husband’s death.

A case of suicide was registered against six persons, including her mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law. An application for anticipatory bail for the three accused was filed in the sessions court, the HC and the Supreme Court through a special leave petition, but they were all rejected, and the Apex court directed the women to surrender and then apply for bail before the magistrate.

In January, the three accused approached the judicial magistrate first class at Shirur, and based on the SC order, sought to surrender and apply for bail at the same time. The magistrate, however, rejected their bail application, following they approached the sessions court in the first week of February. But after their application was rejected there, they approached HC.

After perusing the records, justice Naik observed that the anticipatory bail of the three women had been rejected by all courts, including SC, as the allegations were serious. Similarly, the bail applications were also rejected by the magistrate and sessions court on similar grounds.

Justice Naik further noted that the ploy of the women to surrender and immediately apply for bail was not as per the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which required an accused to be in custody before being able to apply for bail. However, as the women had not been in custody, the magistrate and sessions court were right in rejecting their bail application.

While rejecting the bail application, justice Naik directed the three women to surrender before the magistrate and directed the magistrate to deal with the accused as per law and CrPC, and dismissed the bail application.