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Narayan v The State [2004] FJHC 402; HBM0006.2004L (14 April 2004)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT LAUTOKA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

MISC. ACTION NO. HBM0006 OF 2004L

BETWEEN:

PETER JOHN RAM NARAYAN
Applicant

AND:

THE STATE
Respondent

Counsel for the Applicant: Mr. H.A. Shah
Counsel for the Defendant: Mr. K. Tunidau

Date of Hearing & Ruling: 14 April 2004

EXTEMPORE RULING ON BAIL

The applicant is charged with the murder of Sainimili Vakanibua, his wife, between the 13^th February 2004 and the 19^th February 2004. The applicant has been in custody since the 20^th of February 2004 when he was charged with this offence.

The State objects to the granting of bail and opposes the application but due to the short service of the Notice of Motion and the Application for Bail, is unable to make any further submissions in that regard.

The Bail Act provides that all persons have the right to bail. The presumption in favour of bail is rebutted where the applicant has been in breach of bail conditions or a bail undertaking in the past. In deciding whether or not to grant bail, the court must consider the likelihood of the appearance at trial, the interest of the accused and of course the public interest.

There is no doubt that the applicant is facing a most serious charge. One which leads after conviction to life imprisonment, however, the seriousness of the charge is not sufficient on its own to justify the refusal of bail.

The Act specifies other matters that must be taken into account and the first of those requires the court to take into account the time the person may have to spend in custody before trial if bail is not granted.

It has been submitted by counsel for the accused that it is reasonable to assume that the accused would not be required to stand trial for a period of about 18 months.

From my limited knowledge of the criminal lists at this court, I would consider a period of at least 12 months to be a reasonable estimate.

The Act also states that the primary consideration in deciding whether to grant bail is the likelihood of the accused appearing to answer the charges. The specific matters that must then be addressed are set out in section 19 of the Bail Act and require the court to take into account the accused person's background and community ties including residence, employment, family situation and his previous criminal history.

Having read the material filed, it appears to me that the accused has a significant background in this community and significant community ties including his children and his mother and other members of his family.

There is nothing before me to indicate that the accused has any previous failure to surrender to custody or to observe bail conditions. In fact, the only material before me suggests that the accused has not been in trouble with the police on any prior occasion.

The circumstances, nature and seriousness of the offence as I have said, the offence is indeed serious. The circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence as they are before me are set out in the caution interview which is annexed to the affidavit in support of the application.

The strength of the prosecution case; the only material before me to form any judgment is, as I have indicated, the caution interview; and any specific indications such as that the person voluntarily surrendered to the police at the time of arrest.

The caution interview indicates that on the 19^th February 2004 the accused approached the CID, Lautoka and as a result of that approach, he was then brought in for questioning the following day.

From the material before me, there is nothing that would lead me to be able to form the necessary opinion required by the Act to refuse bail and accordingly I am of the opinion that bail be granted pending trial and it will of course be necessary for that bail to be granted subject to conditions.

The Orders of the Court therefore will be:

1. The accused is granted bail to appear before this court on 4^th May 2004;
   
2. Bail is conditional upon the accused and one surety in the sum of Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) entering into a bail agreement which is to be further conditioned that the accused surrender and not apply for any passport or other travel documents;
   
3. The accused is to report to the Lautoka Police Station between the hours of 6.00am and 6.00pm each Wednesday and Saturday;
   
4. The accused is to reside at 80 Tavewa Avenue, Lautoka.
   

JOHN CONNORS
JUDGE

AT LAUTOKA
14 APRIL 2004