The court grants pre-arrest bail when custodial interrogation is deemed unnecessary due to lack of evidence connecting the accused to the 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 applicant is the accused in Crime No.29/2026 of Poochakkal Police Station, Alappuzha District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 305(a), 331(4) and 324(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

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

06.01.2026 after 06:30 p.m., the applicant criminally trespassed into the family house of the de facto complainant by name Kanjiramchira House, situated in Ward No.VI of Panavally Panchayat, with an intention of committing theft. The applicant stole a DVD, hard disk, power supply box, mouse, two motors, a mixer machine and wooden materials used for making a window. All these items are valued at approximately Rs.60,000/-. On the basis of the statement given by the de facto complainant, the investigating officer registered the case against the applicant, alleging the aforesaid offences.

4. I have heard Sri. C.Y. Vinod Kumar, 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 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 was arrayed as an accused only for the reason that in the CCTV footage, the applicant was seen standing near the house of the de facto complainant on several occasions in suspicious circumstances during the days preceding the theft. Apart from this, there is no material to connect the applicant with the crime. No recovery could be made from the house of the applicant even after search. The applicant is a 75 year old man, as evident from Annexure A2, copy of the Aadhaar card. He has no criminal antecedents. 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 the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.

Sd/-