A court may grant pre-arrest bail if allegations are insufficient to require custodial interrogation, emphasizing the necessity of cooperation with ongoing investigations.

ORDER

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 accused No.2 in Crime No.1316/2025 of Pandalam Police Station, Pathanamthitta District. The offences alleged are punishable under Section s 296 (b), 118(1), 110 and 333 read with Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 .

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

4.9.2025 at about 11.30 pm, the applicant along with the other accused persons, total four in numbers, had trespassed into the residential house of the defacto complainant, hurled obscene words, the accused No.1 had beaten the defacto complainant and his brother using stick, while the applicant along with accused Nos. 3 and 4 had caused hurt to the siblings of the defacto complainant and to one Sreeja, the niece of the defacto complainant.

4. I have heard Sri. A. Rajasimhan, 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 above crime. 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 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. I went through the FIS. No serious allegation is there against the applicant. Accused Nos. 3 and 4 have already been arrested and released on bail. The investigation is almost completed. The recovery has been effected. Considering the allegations made against the applicant, his custodial interrogation seems unnecessary. For these reasons, I find this to be an appropriate case to grant pre-arrest bail to the applicant.

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

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail in the event of his arrest 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 arresting officer/investigating officer, as the case may be.

(ii) The applicant shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(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 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 kp APPENDIX OF BAIL APPL. NO. 14335 OF 2025 PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure A1 TRUE COPY OF THE FIR NO. 1316 OF 2025 OF PANDALAM POLICE STATION Annexure A2 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 29-10-2025 IN CRLMP NO. 8289 OF 2025 OF THE SESSIONS COURT, PATHANAMTHITTA