The court emphasized that pre-arrest bail is not granted as a matter of course and requires a special case to be made out.

ORDER

[Bail Appl. Nos.866/2026 and 642/2026]

These applications are 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.2 and 3 in Crime No.1081/2025 of Chavakkad Police Station, Thrissur District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 110 , 118(2), 324(2) and 329(4) r/w Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that on

14.12.2025 at about 11:30 pm, due to the previous animosity, accused Nos.1 to 3 criminally trespassed into the house of the defacto complainant at Puthiyangady, and the accused No.1 attacked him with a weapon made of iron and thereby he sustained injury on his head. It is also alleged that the accused No.3 slapped the defacto complainant on various parts of his body. If the defacto complainant could not ward off the attack using iron weapon by accused No.1, it may have resulted in his death. Thus, the applicants committed the above offences.

4. I have heard Sri.M.R. Sasith Madhavapanicker Rajendran and Sri.Sarath Babu Kottakkal, the learned counsel for the applicants and Sri.K.A. Noushad and Sri.M.C. Ashi, the learned Senior Public Prosecutors. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicants with the alleged crime; hence, they are entitled to bail. The learned Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the applicants' intentional criminal acts, and if they are 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 applicants is very serious in nature, and it prima facie shows a premeditated criminal act on their part. Specific overt acts have been alleged against the applicants. The applicants also have criminal antecedents.

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.

7. However, if the applicants surrender before the Investigating Officer within seven days from today, the Investigating Officer shall interrogate them and, after interrogation, if the Investigating Officer is of the opinion that they have to be arrested, after recording the arrest, they shall be produced before the jurisdictional Magistrate on the same day itself. The application for bail, if any, filed by them shall be disposed of by the learned Magistrate on the same day itself as far as possible.

The bail applications are dismissed with the above observation.

Sd/-