Insufficient connection to alleged crimes warrants bail amid non-compliance and fraud claims.

ORDER

[Bail Appl. Nos.13386/2025, 13380/2025, 13385/2025, 13394/2025, 13397/2025]

These applications are filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking pre-arrest bail. All these bail applications are connected.

2. The applicant is the accused No.4 in B.A.

No.13394 of 2025 and accused No.6 in the remaining cases. The bail application No. 13386 of 2025 pertains to Crime No.1291/2025, the bail application No. 13380 of 2025 pertains to Crime No. 1284/2025, the bail application No. 13385 of 2025 pertains to Crime No. 1283/2025, the bail application No. 13394 of 2025 pertains to Crime No. 1242/2025, and the bail application No. 13397 of 2025 pertains to Crime No. 1285/2025, all of which are registered at Town East Police Station, Thrissur District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 406 and 420 r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

3. The applicant was the internal auditor of the State Bank of India Staff Co-operative Society Ltd. till 2016. The common allegation in all the cases is that the applicant, along with the other accused, who are staff members, office bearers, and board members of the society, fraudulently induced the respective de facto complainants to invest money in the society by promising lucrative interest and then cheated them by failing to return the principal amount with the promised interest on maturity, and thereby committed the offences.

4. I have heard Sri.Mithun Baby John, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.K.A.Noushad, Sri.M.C. Ashi and Smt.Sreeja V., the learned Senior Public Prosecutors. 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, she 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 she is released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.

6. The applicant is only an internal auditor of the Society. Admittedly, she worked as auditor only till 2016. The deposits made by the de facto complainants in all the crimes are after 2016. It is true that, as per the report submitted under Section 68(2) of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, the liability of the applicant is fixed at Rs. 1,06,65,410/-. For the said reason alone, it cannot be said that the applicant has a connection with the crime. There is no allegation that the applicant personally induced the de facto complainants to part with the money. There cannot be any entrustment with the applicant also, inasmuch as she retired in the year 2016. Considering the allegations made against the applicant, her 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 her arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) in each case 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 herself 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. She shall also appear before the