The court established that pre-arrest bail can be granted when allegations do not warrant custodial interrogation, particularly for first-time offenders.

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.4 in Crime No.646/2025 of Poochakkal Police Station, Alappuzha District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 332 (c), 140(3), 296(b), 351(2), 115(2), and 118(1) read with Section

3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is as follows:

The applicant has animosity against the defacto complainant for filing complaint against the accused Nos. 1 and 2 before police as they have not returned the mobile phone of his son named Nifal. Hence, with intention to abduct the son of the defacto complainant and to cause him hurt, on 30.11.2025 at 7 pm, the applicant criminally trespassed into the house of the defacto complainant, took away his and his wife's dress and on the same day at 7.45 pm, near Deepa Hospital Poochakkal, accused Nos. 1 to 3 kidnapped Nifal on a motorcycle while he was walking along with his elder brother and took him to an isolated place near Anjilithodu. The accused No.2 beat Nifal using a stone and a gliricidia stick on his face. The other accused persons beat on the face and back of Nifal with hands and the accused No.1 hurled abusive words towards him. He also threatened him by saying that he will cause harm to his elder brother also.

4. I have heard Smt. Thejalakshmi R.S., the learned counsel for the applicant and Smt. Sreeja V., the learned Senior 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 Senior 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. The applicant is a 20 year old student, a youngster. No specific overt act has been alleged against him. He did not use any weapon. The investigation is almost over. The applicant has no criminal antecedent. 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 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 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 th