The court determined that bail should be granted due to lack of substantial evidence linking the accused to the crime, conditional upon cooperation with legal procedures.

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 applicants are the accused Nos.2 and 7 in Crime No.1479/2025 of Vadakkancherry Police Station, Palakkad District. The offences alleged are punishable underSections 189(2), 191(2), 191(3), 126(2), 115(2), 118(1), 118(2), 324(4) and 324(5) read withSection 190of theBharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that the defacto complainant and his family members warned the accused No. 1, who was in love with the defacto complainant’s aunt’s granddaughter. Infuriated by this, on 27.12.2025 at 9:45 p.m. at Nattukal, Manjapra, accused Nos.1 to 7, along with 25 other identifiable persons, in prosecution of their common object to commit rioting, formed themselves into an unlawful assembly with the knowledge that they were the members of such assembly. While the defacto complainant and his relatives were returning home after Manjapra Arattu festival, accused No.2 caught hold of the defacto complainant’s shirt collar and wrongly restrained him, while accused No.1 voluntarily caused hurt to him by hitting him with a stone tied with cloth. When the defacto complainant fell down, accused No.1 kicked him. When CW2 attempted to prevent the same, accused No.1 hit the right ear of CW2 with the cloth- tied stone, resulting in a fracture of his right eardrum. Accused Nos.3 to 6 fisted and kicked the defacto complainant. When the brother and wife of the defacto complainant intervened, accused Nos.3 and 4 hit him on his back, while accused Nos.6 and 7 fisted other family members. Further, when accused No.1 pulled back the defacto complainant’s shirt collar, both of them fell into the paddy field. The defacto complainant’s gold chain, weighing about 1.5 sovereigns, was lost in the incident.

4. I have heard Sri.Godwin Joseph, the learned 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 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. 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 applicants, and they are not entitled to bail at this stage.

6. The applicants were remanded to judicial custody on 08.01.2026. The investigation is almost over. No serious overt act has been alleged against the applicants. The applicants have no criminal antecedents. For these reasons, I do not find any reason to hold that the continued detention of the applicants is required for any purpose. Hence, the applicants are entitled to be released on bail.

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

(i) The applicants shall be released on bail 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 jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.

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

(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