Pre-arrest bail granted based on insufficient evidence and lack of necessity for custodial interrogation.

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.1 in Crime No.2207/2025 of Kayamkulam Police Station, Alappuzha District. The offence alleged is punishable under Section 318 (4) r/w Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that, the applicant was the President and the accused No.2 was the Secretary of Vyapari Vyavasayi Co-operative Soceity Ltd. No.A1091, Kayamkulam, Alappuzha. On 20.06.2020, the defacto complainant deposited an amount of Rs.68,910/- in the Society and after the expiry of the period of deposit, he closed the deposit and an amount of Rs.82,311/- was transferred to his savings account. Out of the said amount, defacto complainant withdrew a part of the said amount, the remaining amount of Rs.42,034/- was misappropriated by the applicant and the co-accused by closing down the society and thereby committed cheating. Thus, the applicant has committed the above offence.

4. I have heard Sri. C.S.Manilal, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.M.C. Ashi, 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 the President of the Society.

Admittedly, the de facto complainant was the subscriber of a chit conducted by the Society and when he prized the chit, he deposited the prized amount in the Society as fixed deposit. It appears from the records that thereafter, the Society has started an industrial unit and the deposits made by the members of the Society were converted for the said purpose. An enquiry was conducted under Section 66 (2) of the Co-operative Societies Act . Even in the said enquiry, there is no allegation of misappropriation or cheating, except certain managerial lapses on the part of the committee in handling the industrial unit. 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