The court determined that continued detention of the accused was unnecessary given prior acquittals and lack of incriminating evidence.

O R D E R

This application is filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking regular bail.

2. The applicant is the accused in Crime No.8/2026 of Kumbala Excise Range Office, Kasaragod District. The offence alleged is punishable under Section 58 of the Kerala Abkari Act .

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

05.01.2026 at 6.30 p.m., at Bambrana Nagar in Bambrana Village, the applicant was found in possession of 5.13 litres of IMFL meant for sale only in the State of Karnataka and thereby committed the offence.

4. I have heard Sri.Arunkumar, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.K.A.Noushad, 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. On the other hand, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and he is not entitled to bail at this stage.

6. The applicant was remanded to judicial custody on

05.01.2026. The investigation is almost over and the recovery has been effected. On the last hearing date, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor submitted that the applicant was involved in five other similar cases. However, the orders produced by the learned counsel for the applicant today show that the applicant has already been acquitted in all those five cases. For these reasons, I do not find any reason to hold that the continued detention of the applicant is required for any purpose. Hence, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail.

In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions: -

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.

(ii) The applicant shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

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

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

(v) The applicant 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 applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

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

Sd/-