Bail is the rule and jail is the exception; personal liberty must be prioritized unless justified by compelling reasons.

ORDER :

This Bail Application is filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

2. Petitioner is the 2^nd accused in Crime No.1705/2024 of Kottayam East Police Station. The above case is registered against the petitioner alleging offences punishable under Sections 318(1) & 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (for short, BNS).

3. The prosecution case is that, with the dishonest and fraudulent intention of making wrongful gain, the petitioner, who is conducting the Brightway International at Dew Space, 5th floor, West Fort, Thrissur, deceived the defacto complainant by making him believe that he would be procured a job visa at Canada and induced him to pay Rs.1,50,000/- via account transfer on 06.02.2024 and 07.02.2024 to his account and thereafter, failed to procure the job visa as promised or to return the amount so obtained.

4. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

5. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is the 2^nd accused and actually he has no involvement in this case. The transaction was between the defacto complainant and one Rajashekhar Menon. It is submitted that now the matter is settled and the defacto complainant filed a statement before the Police that he has no grievance against the petitioner. The petitioner produced Annexure-A3 and Annexure-A4. The Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application and submitted that there is criminal antecedent to the petitioner.

6. It seems that the matter is settled between the parties. It is also clear from the facts that the main dispute was between the defacto complainant and the 1^st accused. The petitioner is the 2^nd accused. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I think this bail application can be allowed after imposing stringent conditions.

7. Moreover, it is a well accepted principle that the bail is the rule and the jail is the exception. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Chidambaram. P v Directorate of Enforcement [2019 (16) SCALE 870], after considering all the earlier judgments, observed that, the basic jurisprudence relating to bail remains the same inasmuch as the grant of bail is the rule and refusal is the exception so as to ensure that the accused has the opportunity of securing fair trial.

8. Recently the Apex Court in Siddharth v State of Uttar Pradesh and Another [2021(5)KHC 353] considered the point in detail. The relevant paragraph of the above judgment is extracted hereunder:

“12. We may note that personal liberty is an important aspect of our constitutional mandate. The occasion to arrest an accused during investigation arises when custodial investigation becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime or where there is a possibility of influencing the witnesses or accused may abscond. Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made. A distinction must be made between the existence of the power to arrest and the justification for exercise of it. (Joginder Kumar v. State of UP and Others (1994 KHC 189: (1994) 4 SCC 260: 1994 (1) KLT 919: 1994 (2) KLJ 97: AIR 1994 SC 1349: 1994 CriLJ 1981)) If arrest is made routine, it can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person. If the Investigating Officer has no reason to believe that the accused will abscond or disobey summons and has, in fact, throughout cooperated with the investigation we fail to appreciate why there should be a compulsion on the officer to arrest the accused.”

9. In Manish Sisodia v. Central Bureau of Investigation [2023 KHC 6961], the Apex Court observed that even if the allegation is one of grave economic offence, it is not a rule that bail should be denied in every case.

10. Considering the dictum laid down in the above decision and considering the facts and circumstances of this case, I think bail can be granted after imposing stringent conditions.

Therefore, this Bail Application is allowed with the following directions:

1. The petitioner s