Pre-arrest bail requires a special case to be made, especially when serious allegations are involved.

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 applicant is the sole accused in Crime No.546/2025 of Ernakulam Town North Police Station, Ernakulam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 376(2)(n) and 354B of the Indian Penal Code. 3. The prosecution case, in short, is that during 2019, while the defacto complainant was undergoing her degree course at Co-operative College Pilathra, the applicant was a senior student. They were in love. On 04.07.2022, the applicant has committed rape on the defacto complainant at Kenz Lodge near North Metro Station, Ernakulam and on 02.08.2022 also, he committed rape on the defacto complainant in Kenz lodge against her consent. In 2022 December also, he had committed sexual assault on the defacto complainant. During 2024, the applicant took the defacto complainant to Iftar hotel in Palarivattam and, at that time, against her consent, she was forcibly taken to men's toilet and engaged in rape. The applicant committed rape and sexual assault on the defacto complainant under the promise of marriage and thereby committed the above said offences.

4. I have heard Sri. Rebin Vincent Gralan, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri. M.C. Ashi, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. The learned Senior Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the applicant's intentional criminal acts, and if he is 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 applicant is very serious in nature, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on his part. I went through the FIS. There are clear averments in the FIS to attract the offences. A reading of the FIS would show that the applicant and the victim had sexual intercourse on several times. It is true that most of those sexual acts were voluntary. However, the definite case of the victim is that she consented for sexual intercourse as the applicant promised to marry her.

7. The investigation is in a preliminary stage.

The custodial interrogation of the applicant is necessary for the investigation. As rightly argued by the learned Senior Public Prosecutor, the possibility of the applicant influencing the witnesses and interfering with the investigation cannot be ruled out if he is 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/-