Grant of pre-arrest bail justified by absence of evidence linking accused to alleged crime.

O R D E R

Dated this the 29^th day of January, 2026 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

3 in Crime No.496/2025 of Thrikkakara Police Station, Ernakulam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 406 , 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code , 1860.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that in order to make wrongful gain to the accused and wrongful loss to the de facto complainant on 26.08.2022, the accused, under the guise of arranging a loan of Rs.40,00,000/- to the de facto complainant, had availed two loans of Rs.40,00,000/- each, one in the name of the de facto complainant and another in the name of the accused No.3, who is the wife of the accused No.1. The document of the property handed over by the de facto complainant for arranging his loan of Rs.40,00,000/- was used for the purpose of arranging a loan in the name of accused No.3 and the amount of Rs.40,00,000/- was appropriated by them. Thus, the accused have deceived him and committed the above mentioned offences. 4. I have heard Sri. K.Jaju Babu, the learned senior counsel for the applicants and Sri. M.C.Ashi, 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 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 Senior Public Prosecutor, 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. The loan was availed in the year 2022 pledging the property of the de facto complainant. However, the complaint was filed and FIR was lodged in the year 2025 only. According to the applicants, the loan of Rs.39,40,000/- disbursed to the applicant No.2 was repaid by the applicant No.1, as evident from Annexure.C. The applicants have no criminal antecedents. Considering the allegations made against the applicants, their custodial interrogation seems unnecessary. For these reasons, I find this to be an appropriate case to grant pre-arrest bail to the applicants.

In the result, the application is 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 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 demanded.

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

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

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

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

Sd/-

DR. KAUSER EDAPPAGATH JUDGE