IMPORTANT POINT
The police must justify the necessity of arrest based on established criteria, ensuring adherence to legal principles before detaining individuals accused of crimes punishable by up to seven years.

ORDER

These Bail Applications are filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita . These bail applications are connected and therefore, I am disposing of these bail applications by a common order.

2. Petitioners are accused in different crimes of different Police Stations. The petitioners in B.A. No.2006/2025 is an accused in Crime No.157/2025 of Anthikad Police Station, petitioner in B.A. No.2067/2025 are the accused in Crime No.95/2025 of Mannar Police Station, petitioner in B.A. No.2074/2025 is an accused in Crime No.94/2025 of Mannar Police Station, petitioners in B.A. No.2083/2025 are the accused in Crime No.80/2025 of Mannar Police Station, petitioners in B.A. No.2089/2025 are the accused in Crime No.178/2025 of Adimaly Police Station, petitioner in B.A. No.2091/2025 is an accused in Crime No.168/2025 of Kannur Town Police Station, petitioner in B.A. No.2108/2025 are the accused in Crime No.150/2025 of Balussery Police Station, petitioner in B.A. No.2286/2025 is an accused in Crime No.200/2025 of Kothamangalam Police Station.

3. The brief facts in almost all the cases are as follows:

There is an offer from the accused to the victims in these cases that they will provide scooter, home appliances, laptop, water tank, grocery kits etc. with 50% subsidy from CSR fund. Therefore, the victims paid huge amounts to the accused. But the assured articles were not supplied and the amount was also not returned. Therefore, these cases are registered. The petitioners herein are not the main accused in all these cases. The allegation against the petitioners in these cases is that they collected the amount and entrusted it to the main accused and the main accused misappropriated the amount.

4. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and the learned Public Prosecutor.

5. The counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners are ready to abide any conditions if this Court grant them bail.

6. The Public Prosecutor opposed the bail applications.

7. This Court considered the contentions of the petitioners and the Public Public Prosecutor. Admittedly, in all these cases, the maximum punishment that can be imposed for the offences alleged are up to 7 years. Therefore, whether the arrest of the petitioners are necessary is to be decided by the Investigating OfÏcer in accordance with the principle laid down by the Apex Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar and Another [2014 (8) SCC 273] . It will be better to extract the relevant portion of the above judgment:

“7. xxxxxxxxx

7.1. From a plain reading of the aforesaid provision, it is evident that all person accused of an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may be less than seven years or which may extend to seven years with or without fine, cannot be arrested by the police ofÏcer only on his satisfaction that such person had committed the offence punishable as aforesaid. A police ofÏcer before arrest, in such cases has to be further satisfied that such arrest is necessary to prevent such person from committing any further offence; or for proper investigation of the case, or to prevent the accused from causing the evidence of the offence to disappear; or tampering with such evidence in any manner; or to prevent such person from making any inducement, threat or promise to a witness so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or the police ofÏcer, or unless such accused person is arrested, his conclusions, which one may reach based on facts.

7.2. The law mandates the police ofÏcer to state the facts and record the reasons in writing which led him to come to a conclusion covered by any of the provisions aforesaid, while making such arrest. The law further requires the police ofÏcers to record the reasons in writing for not making the arrest.

7.3. In pith and core, the police ofÏcer before arrest must put a question to himself, why arrest? Is it really required? What purpose it will serve? What object it will achieve? It i