The court determined that prima-facie evidence warrants denial of pre-arrest bail under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

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, 2 and 3 in Crime No.979/2025 of Nilambur Police Station, Malappuram District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 126(2), 118(2), 115(2) and 118(1) r/w Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

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

24.10.2025 at 4:00 p.m., the applicant along with the remaining accused assaulted the defacto complainant with helmet and a nail and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard Sri. John Sebastian Ralph V., the learned counsel for the applicants and Sri. K.A.Noushad, 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. There are prima-facie materials to show the involvement of the applicants in the crime. The defacto complainant and the applicants are the students of the Amal College, Nilambur. Accused Nos. 4 and 5 are the old students of the said college. Specific overt acts have been alleged against the applicants. The defacto complainant has also sustained injuries. The investigation is in a preliminary stage. In these circumstances, I am not inclined to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction vested with this Court under Section 482 of BNSS . However, considering the fact that the defacto complainant and the applicants are students and that the applicants are aged 20 years only, I am of the view that they may be directed to surrender before the investigating officer. Hence, the following order is passed.

If the applicants surrender before the investigating officer within one week from today, the investigating officer shall interrogate them and after interrogation if the investigating officer forms an opinion that the applicants are to be arrested, the investigating officer shall record the arrest of the applicants and produce them before the jurisdictional Magistrate. The bail application, if any, moved by the applicants shall be disposed of by the learned Magistrate, in accordance with law, as far as possible on the same day itself. A copy of the bail application shall be given to the learned Public Prosecutor in advance.

The bail application is, accordingly, dismissed with the above observations.

Sd/-