The Petitioner in these Bail Applications, Abdul Arshad, seeks bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He is one of the accused in several crimes registered at different Police Stations. The petitioner was arrested on 11.6.2011 in one case and his formal arrest was recorded in several other cases. In some of the cases, formal arrest of the petitioner is not recorded. The learned Public Prosecutor submitted that in the crimes relating to three of the Bail Applications (B.A. Nos. 7429 of 2011, 7485 of 2011 and 7548 of 2011), the petitioner is not made an accused.

2. The offences alleged against the accused are under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3 and 4 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 (Central Act No.43 of 1978) (hereinafter referred to as “Prize Chits Act”).

3. The petitioner herein and some other accused persons had filed Bail Applications before this Court on an earlier occasion. Those Bail Applications were dismissed by a detailed order dated 12th August, 2011. (See ILR 2011 (3) Kerala 856 = 2011 (3) KLT 796 = 2011 (3) KHC 519 = 2011 (3) KLJ 715.) For the sake of convenience, paragraphs 4 and 5