News channel journalist who allegedly helped criminals gets bail

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has granted bail to a private Kannada news channel journalist who is accused of helping criminals who had committed murder and sought his help.

Mehaboob Subani, ‘reporter incharge of entire North Karnataka’ for the private Kannada news channel, BTV, has been granted bail by the High Court of Karnataka. A case against him is pending before a lower court in which the Nyamathi police have charged him under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 302 (murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Seven persons had approached him and informed him that they had committed the murder of a person named Anjaneya and tried to commit the murder of another person named Madhu. Mehaboob had advised five of them to surrender and allegedly tried to safeguard the interest of the other two.

Mehaboob’s name was mentioned in the second remand application on March 17, 2023 though it did not find mention in the FIR and the first remand application before that. He approached the HC after his bail plea was rejected by the Sessions Cour t. His advocate argued that Mehaboob was “the head of Hubbali Bureau for BTV, a national award winner and he is ready to co-operate for investigation.”

The HC noted that Mehaboob’s actions attract the charges of harbouring criminals, causing disappearance of evidence and criminal conspiracy and not what was charg ed by the police. “While there is no mention of his name in the FIR and the first remand application, it was only in the second remand application that divulged some information about him, the HC noted.

“The accused Nos.1 to 7 have approached him for his assistance. He made accused Nos.2 to 5 to surrender before the Shiggaon police and he did not divulge any information about accused Nos.2 and 6. Therefore, allegations against this petitioner/accused No.8 may attract Section 212 (harbouring offender), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC,” the HC noted. The HC recorded that he had made five of the accused surrender.

“At the outset, he made accused Nos.2 to 5 to surrender before the Shiggaon police. No prima-facie criminal intention is traced out in the prosecution papers, if it is found he could have avoided the surrender of accused Nos.2 to 5 also before the police,” Justice TG Shivashankare Gowda said in his judgment.

Granting him bail on a bond of Rs.1 lakh, the HC said, “At this stage, primafacie material discloses no grounds to uphold the contentions raised by the learned Government Pleader. Conditions would meet the ends of justice as the petitioner/accused No.8 has voluntarily come forward to co-operate with the investigation and abide by any conditions imposed by this Court.”