The court grants pre-arrest bail when insufficient evidence links the accused to the crime and no custodial interrogation is warranted.

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.1081/2025 of Tanur Police Station, Malappuram District. The offence alleged is punishable under Section 112 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that the accused No.1, along with the applicant, with the intention of committing petty organised crimes using online platforms, committed organised economic offences by defrauding and extorting money and inducing transfer of Rs. 6,00,000/- through the bank account of accused No.1, bearing No. 40220101125245, maintained at Kerala Gramin Bank. Thus, the applicant committed the offence alleged.

4. I have heard Adv.Adithya Rajeev, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.M.C. Ashi, the learned 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. Even going by the prosecution case, no amount has been credited to the account of the applicant. The suspected amount was found in the account of the accused No.1. The prosecution only relies on certain WhatsApp chats between accused No.1 and the applicant to connect the applicant with the crime. Moreover, no one has complained about the aforesaid transaction. 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 prearrest 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.