Pre-arrest bail granted when allegations are vague and no criminal antecedents exist.

ORDER

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 to 5 in Crime No.1610/2025 of Kothamangalam Police Station, Ernakulam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 403 , 406, 408, 418, 419, 420, 465, 468 and 120B of the IPC .

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that the applicants entered into a conspiracy to deceive the Kothamangalam Vyapari Vyavasayi Co-operative Society Ltd No. E1240 (for short, the Society). For that purpose, when the applicant Nos. 1 to 3 who were Honorary Secretaries and applicant Nos. 4 to 5 were the President and Vice President of the Society during the period from 26.11.2018 to 26.05.2025, by creating false documents, they committed misappropriation. The applicant No.1 during the period from January 2019 to October 2019 had received ₹65,000/- in the name of Vinod C.R., the applicant No.2 has received ₹26,000/- in the name of Ammini during the period from 2019 November to 2020 February and during the period from 2021 August to 2022 March ₹45,500/- was received in the name of one Kousalya and the accused No.3 has received ₹78,000/- during the period from March 2020 to March 2021 in the name of Ammini. Thus the applicants have caused a total loss of ₹2,14,500/- to the Society and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard Sri. Ashok Shenoy B., 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 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 applicant Nos. 1 to 3 were the former Honorary Secretaries and the applicant Nos. 4 and 5, were the former President and Vice President of the Society. The defacto complainant is the present Honorary Secretary. The crime was registered on the basis of a private complaint filed by the defacto complainant before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I, Kothamangalam. Annexure A2 is the complaint. I went through the complaint. The allegations are so vague. That apart, the alleged misappropriation took place druing the period from 2019 to 2021 and the private complaint was filed only in the year 2025. 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 th