The court grants bail when prosecution fails to present sufficient evidence linking the accused to the alleged crime.

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 and

2 in Crime No.32/2026 of Kumily Police Station, Idukki District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 296 (b), 115(2) and 118(1) read with Section 3 (5)

of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that, due to previous enmity towards the de facto complainant, on 15.01.2026 at about 08:30 p.m., the applicant No.1/accused No.1 abused the de facto complainant in filthy language and caused mental agony while he was standing on the road in front of his elder brother’s house at Vellaramkunnu. Thereafter, when the de facto complainant reached Vellaramkunnu town, the applicant No.1/accused No.1 again abused him and assaulted him by hitting on the back side of his right shoulder with his hand. Subsequently, the applicant No.2/accused No.2, who arrived at the spot in a tipper lorry bearing the name ‘Chinnus’, took a stick from the vehicle and attempted to assault the de facto complainant on his head. When the de facto complainant obstructed the blow with his hand, he sustained injuries to two fingers of his right hand. On seeing the incident, Bineesh, Kuttan and Regin Rajan intervened to rescue the de facto complainant, whereupon the applicant No.2/accused No.2 assaulted them also with the stick, and thereby committed the aforesaid offences.

4. I have heard Sri. T.A.Unnikrishnan, 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 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 learned counsel for the applicants made available to me a copy of the FIR registered as Crime No.30/2026 at the very same police station. The de facto complainant herein is the accused No.2 in the said crime. The allegation is that the accused No.1 and his friends were assaulted by the de facto complainant and others on the same day, same time and at the same place of occurrence. No serious injury has been sustained by the de facto complainant. 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 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 witn