Pre-arrest bail cannot be granted when serious allegations indicate premeditated criminal actions, necessitating custodial investigation.

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 applicant is apprehending arrest in Crime No.145/2025 of Thidanadu Police Station, Kottayam District. The offences alleged are punishable under Section 318 (4) r/w Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section

66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 .

3. The prosecution case, in short, is as follows: In furtherance of their fraudulent and dishonest intention to deceive the informant and make wrongful gain and corresponding wrongful loss to the informant, the accused persons befriended the informant through Telegram, a social media platform, by advertising that they need employees and thereafter, forwarded messages from the Telegram ID 'pooja_0001' and deceived him by promising to procure a job with handsome salary and induced him to transfer a total sum of Rs.21,02,295/- from his account maintained at SBI, Bharananganam branch into various accounts maintained by the accused and also some amounts were transferred from the accounts of the mother and friends of the informant. Thereafter, the accused persons committed cheating by not procuring the job as promised and repaying the amount. It is stated that out of the amount swindled from the informant as layer 2, an amount of Rs.46,501/- was transferred to the account of the applicant, maintained at Canara Bank having account No.110208839278, on 27.11.2024 and the said amount was withdrawn on the same date itself.

4. I have heard Smt.Anju R.S., the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.K.A.Noushad 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 present case. 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 law regarding the grant or refusal of pre-arrest bail is well settled. Pre-arrest bail cannot be granted as a matter of course. The power under Section 482 of BNSS could be exercised only when a special case is made out, that too, recording reasons thereof. Perusal of the case diary reveals that the accusation made against the applicant is very serious in nature, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on his part. The investigation reveals that the money defrauded from the defacto complainant was transferred to the accounts of various individuals, including the applicant. Moreover, the applicant is involved in eleven online fraud complaints registered on the National Crime Reporting Portal, wherein his account maintained with Canara Bank was allegedly misutilised for online fraud activities.

The investigation is in a preliminary stage. The custodial interrogation of the applicant is necessary for the investigation. As rightly argued by the learned Senior Public Prosecutor, the possibility of the applicant influencing the witnesses and interfering with the investigation cannot be ruled out if he is released on bail. Considering the gravity of the offence and stage of the investigation, I am of the view that this is not a fit case where the extraordinary jurisdiction vested with this Court under Section 482 of BNSS could be invoked. The bail application is, accordingly, dismissed.

Sd/-