The court emphasized balancing personal liberty against investigational rights, allowing bail for the elderly petitioner in light of health concerns and no flight risk.

ORDER

These bail applications are filed under section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’).

2. Petitioner is the accused in various crimes registered in different police stations in the State. The offences alleged against the petitioner in all these cases are almost identical and it includes those under Section 420 r/w Section 3 4 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, ‘ IPC ’), apart from Section 3 r/w Section 21(1)(2)(3), Section 5 r/w Section 23 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019 (for short, ‘BUDS Act’). In some of the cases the offences alleged are under Sections 3 16(2), 318(2), 318(4) r/w Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNS’) also.

3. The allegations in all these crimes are also almost similar. The prosecution alleges that the accused, with an intent to cheat the respective defacto complainants, induced them to deposit large amounts of money by promising to supply various articles at half the actual market value, and thereafter, failed to provide the said articles or return the amounts collected from the individual complainants and thereby cheated them and committed the offences alleged.

4. Petitioner is involved in around 500 cases altogether and his arrest was recorded in the first crime on 11.03.2025 and from then on he has been in custody till date. In the present cases, petitioner’s arrest was recorded on 22.10.2025 and 29.10.2025.

5. I have heard Sri. S. Rajeev, the learned Counsel for the petitioner as well as Smt. M.K.Pushpalatha, the learned Public Prosecutors.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that petitioner is the founder and executive director of Sree Satya Sai Orphanage Trust, which is rendering yeoman services all over the State and that he has been at the helm of affairs of various trusts and charitable organizations. According to the learned counsel, while he was rendering such services, he became acquainted with the first accused, who introduced, through his proprietorship concern, a scheme for arranging various equipment for half the price, to be supplied to willing consumers. Several programmes were conducted by the first accused throughout Kerala and petitioner, in his capacity as the Chairman of the National NGO Confederation, participated in such programmes and even explained the scheme. The learned counsel submitted that other than explaining the scheme propounded by the first accused, petitioner has not derived any personal benefit, except for an amount of Rs.1.20 Crores contributed by the first accused towards Sree Satya Sai Orphanage Trust, which was managed by the petitioner as its Executive Director. The learned counsel also submitted that petitioner was initially arrested on 11.03.2025, in other cases, raising allegations of a similar nature and in these cases on 22.10.2025 and 29.10.2025. The learned Counsel submitted that the continued detention of the petitioner does not serve any purpose and he ought to be released on bail.

7. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that petitioner is an accused in more than 500 cases all over the State which are now being investigated by the CBCID. It is further submitted that, though, petitioner was arrested on 11.03.2025 in respect of another crime, in these cases, his arrest was recorded on 22.10.2025 and 29.10.2025 and that the extent of his involvement can be identified only after the investigation is completed and, hence, the petitioner ought not to be released on bail.

8. I have considered the rival contentions.

9. In an FIR registered as Crime No.877 of 2025 of CBCID, Alappuzha, it was mentioned that the information regarding the alleged offence against the petitioner and other accused were