Accused granted pre-arrest bail under specific conditions; absence of necessity for custodial interrogation.

O R D E R

This application is filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , 2023 seeking pre-arrest bail.

2. The applicants are the accused Nos. 1 to 3 in Crime No.1062/2025 of Kalamassery Police Station, Ernakulam. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 3 16 (2) and 318(4) r/w 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023 (for short ‘the BNS ’).

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that the first applicant is the Chairman, second applicant is the Vice Chairman and third applicant is the Manager of Agri Tourism Multi State Co-operative Society Limited (hereinafter referred to as ATCOS) functioning at Pathadipalam in Edappally Village. The applicants promised the defacto complainant that if she deposits amount in the ATCOS, she will receive huge interest and accordingly the defacto complainant invested Rs.9.5 lakhs during the period from 04/05/2024 to 17/07/2024. After receiving the amount, the applicants neither repaid the amount nor the interest to the defacto complainant. Thus, the applicants have committed the above mentioned offences.

4. I have heard Smt. Anjali Menon, the learned counsel for the applicants and Sri. M.C. Ashi, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicants with the alleged crime; hence, they are entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicants, and if they are released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

6. The allegations in the present FIR are identical in nature to those in Crime No.1192/2025 of Thrissur West Police Station, in which the applicants were already granted anticipatory bail, as per Annexure A2 order. Considering the allegations levelled against the applicants, their custodial interrogation does not appear to be necessary. For these reasons, it is a fit case where pre-arrest bail can be granted to the applicants.

In the result, the applications are allowed on the following conditions:-

(i) The applicants shall be released on bail in the event of their arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) each with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the arresting officer/investigating officer, as the case may be.

(ii) The applicants shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting themselves to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(iii) The applicants shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. They shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.

(iv) The applicants shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.

(v) The applicants shall not attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or in any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.

(vi) The applicants shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

(vii)The application, if any, for deletion/modification of bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.