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Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has dismissed the petition filed by Kavoor police in Mangaluru and complainant Hyder Ali, seeking police custody of the accused in the abetment to suicide case of BM Mumtaz Ali, brother of former MLA Mohideen Bhava.
Justice M Nagaprasanna said that the provision pertaining to police custody under section 187(3) of BNSS in juxtaposition to section 167(2) of the earlier regime, the CrPC, has not changed the purpose.
On October 6, 2024, businessman BM Mumtaz Ali had died by suicide. Hyder Ali, who also happens to be Mumtaz's brother, had registered a complant alleging abetment to suicide. The police had arrested six accused persons. The trial court had acceded to the request for sending three accused to police custody and all the accused are remanded in judicial custody.
During the investigation, the police came across certain voice samples of the accused persons which were recorded. The prosecution stated that the voice samples were within the knowledge of the court. The prosecution then filed an application seeking police custody of the accused.
On December 4, 2024, the trial court rejected the application on the ground that the period of investigation in the case at hand was 60 days and the police custody available in terms of section 187 of BNSS is within 40 days of the registration of the crime.
Challenging this order, the police and the complainant contended that the punishment imposable in the case at hand, for an offence of abetment to suicide, is ten years and hence the period for investigation is 90 days. Therefore, under BNSS section 187, if the period of investigation is 90 days, the police custody is available in total for 15 days between day one to day 60.
Justice Nagaprasanna noted that a slight tweak in the new regime in section 187(3) of BNSS in juxtaposition to section 167(2) of the earlier CrPC has not changed the purpose of the provision. "The phraseology of the words ‘ten years or more’ found in sub-clause (i) of Section 187(3) of the BNSS would mean, the minimum threshold punishment imposable on an offence under the BNS should be ten years.days.The offence in the case at hand, does not bear a minimum threshold sentence of ten years, but is extendable or to an extent of ten years, which would mean, discretion available to the concerned court to impose punishment up to ten years. Therefore, the minimum threshold is not ten years," Justice Nagaprasanna said.
The court further said, "Completion of investigation in a punishment which is up to ten years is undoubtedly 60 days. Rest of the other offences, be it death, life imprisonment of ten years and more, would be 90 days.In the case at hand, the offence is punishable up to ten years, Therefore, the police custody is only from day one to the day forty."