Pre-arrest bail granted when insufficient evidence links the accused to the alleged crime, emphasizing presumption of innocence and the necessity for conditions to ensure investigation integrity.

ORDER

These applications are filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking pre-arrest bail. All these bail applications are connected and hence I am disposing of the same by a common order.

2. B.A. No.14602/2025 pertains to Crime No.761/2025, B.A. No.14603/2025 pertains to Crime No.762/2025, B.A. No.14618/2025 pertains to Crime No.763/2025, B.A. No.14621/2025 pertains to Crime No.764/2025, B.A. No.14622/2025 pertains to Crime No.765/2025 and B.A. No.14623/2025 pertains to Crime No.766/2025 of Chakkarakkal Police Station, Kannur District. The applicants are accused Nos.3 to 9 and 11 to 13 in all the cases. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 3 16 (2), 316(5), 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2) and 61(2) read with Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘ BNS ’).

3. Accused No.1 is the Secretary, accused No.2 is the Attender and accused No.3 is the President of the Kannur District Building Material Co-operative Society at Chakkarakkal. Accused Nos.3 to 13 are its Directors. The second respondent in all the cases is the defacto complainant. The prosecution case, in short, in all the cases is that the applicants and the remaining accused induced the defacto complainants to make deposits in the society and accordingly they made deposits in the society and the applicants and the remaining accused cheated them by misappropriating the amount deposited and not returning the amount or interest agreed and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard the learned counsel for the applicants, the learned counsel for the defacto complainants and the learned Public Prosecutors. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the above crime. 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 Prosecutors, 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. As stated earlier, accused No.3 is the President and the remaining accused are the Directors of the society. The records would show that the Co-operative Department conducted an audit and found that accused Nos.1 and 2, the Secretary and Attender of the society, misappropriated a huge amount from the society from Group Deposits, Personal Loans, Fixed Deposits, Savings Bank Accounts, Daily Collections, etc. Thereafter, as per the decision taken in the Director Board Meeting held on 25.01.2025, they were suspended and they are facing domestic enquiry. Annexure A1 produced in all the cases would show that the Secretary and the President of the society had entered into an agreement in which the Secretary had admitted that he had misappropriated a sum of Rs.5,00,00,000/- (Rupees Five Crores only) and agreed to pay back the said amount. Considering the allegations made against the applicants, their custodial interrogation seems unnecessary. For these reasons, I find these to be appropriate cases to grant pre- arrest bail 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 in each case 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 de