Pre-arrest bail cannot be granted if risks to investigation exist and accusations are serious.

O R D E R

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

2. The applicants are the accused Nos.1 and 2 in Crime No. 1456/2025 of Vaikom Police Station, Kottayam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 115 (2), 118(2), 126(2), 296(b) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that on

05.09.2025 at about 09:30 p.m., due to their previous enmity towards the informant, at the Kattikkunnu-Palakkari Fish Farm road, situated near the house of Hassan Karikilamparambu, the accused persons, with the intent to cause grievous hurt to the informant, shared common intention and wrongfully restrained him; then applicant No.1 abused him with obscene words, slapped him on his face and inflicted a blow with a stick on his right hand, causing fracture of right ring finger; then the applicant No.2 inflicted blows on his left hand and back with a cadjan stick, causing hurt; then accused Nos.3 and 4 punched him on his face and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard Smt. Meenakshy Parvathy, the learned counsel for the applicants and Smt. M.K. Pushpalatha, 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 bail. The learned Senior Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the applicants' intentional criminal acts, and if they are released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

6. The law regarding the grant or refusal of pre-

arrest bail is well settled. Pre-arrest bail cannot be granted as a matter of course. The power under Section 482 of BNSS could be exercised only when a special case is made out, that too, recording reasons thereof. Perusal of the case diary reveals that the accusation made against the applicants is very serious in nature, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on their part. The applicants have been named in the FIS itself. The defacto complainant sustained serious injury including fracture in the incident.

7. The investigation is in a preliminary stage. The custodial interrogation of the applicants is necessary for the investigation. As rightly argued by the learned Senior Public Prosecutor, the possibility of the applicants influencing the witnesses and interfering with the investigation cannot be ruled out if they are released on bail. Considering the gravity of the offence and stage of the investigation, I am of the view that this is not a fit case where the extraordinary jurisdiction vested with this Court under Section 482 of BNSS could be invoked. The bail application is, accordingly, dismissed.

Sd/-