Anticipatory bail in cases of grave socioeconomic offenses, such as large-scale financial misappropriation, is not permissible when custodial interrogation is essential for investigation and no substantial change in circumstances has occurred since the previous dismissal of the bail application.

ORDER :

A. BADHARUDEEN, J.

This is the 2^nd application for anticipatory bail filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sasnhita, 2023, by the petitioners, who are accused Nos.30 to 32 in Crime No.165/2021 of CBCID, Thrissur.

2. Heard the learned senior counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Public Prosecutor.

3. Here, the prosecution allegation is that, accused Nos.1 to 37 have committed offences punishable under Sections 406, 408, 417, 418, 420, 409, 465, 468, 471, 423, 477A, 201 and 120B r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and under Sections 13(1)(c) and (d) r/w Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and Section 13(1)(a) r/w Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018.

4. The prosecution case is that the accused herein hatched conspiracy and as an outcome of the same, they obtained membership bearing No.18637 in the name of the complainant without his knowledge and consent in Karuvannur Service Co-operative Society and thereafter, filed an application for a loan in his name, offering the security of the 1^st accused, and thereafter, a loan was granted vide SLM No.3929 for Rs. 25 lakh and the said sum was misappropriated. Thereafter, again Rs. 25 lakh was obtained as loan and now, Rs. 50 lakh along with interest thereof is outstanding to the Society.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioners pointed out the age of the accused persons while canvassing anticipatory bail. According to him, the petitioners are innocent and they are ready to co-operate with the investigation.

6. The learned Public Prosecutor strongly opposed the grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioners and submitted that the allegations against them are grave and that their arrest, custodial interrogation, taking of specimen signatures, and recovery of the money are necessary, and in such circumstances, the grant of anticipatory bail would impede the investigation.

7. In this matter, earlier, the petitioners herein have filed B.A.No.13766/2025 seeking anticipatory bail and as per Annexure 2 order dated 02.12.2025, this Court dismissed the said bail application mainly on the ground that arrest, custodial interrogation, and collection of specimen signatures were necessary for the purpose of investigation and alleged recovery of details relating to the misappropriation, with direction to the petitioners/accused to surrender before the Investigating Officer forthwith. Paragraph Nos.3 to 9 of B.A.No.13766/2025 are relevant and are extracted as under:

“3. Here, the prosecution allegation is that, accused Nos.1 to 37 have committed offences punishable under Sections 406, 408, 417, 418, 420, 409, 465, 468, 471, 423, 477A, 201 and 120B r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, ‘the IPC’ hereinafter) and under Sections 13(1)(c) and (d) r/w Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for short, ‘the PC Act, 1988’ hereinafter) and Section 13(1)(a) r/w Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 (for short, ‘the PC (Amendment) Act, 2018’ hereinafter).

4. The prosecution case is that the accused herein hatched conspiracy and as an outcome of the same, they obtained membership bearing No.18637 in the name of the complainant without his knowledge and consent in Karuvannur Service Co-operative Society and thereafter, filed an application for a loan in his name, offering the security of the 1^st accused, and thereafter, a loan was granted vide SLM No.3929 for Rs. 25 lakh and the said sum was misappropriated. Thereafter, again Rs. 25 lakh was obtained as loan and now, Rs. 50 lakh along with interest thereof is outstanding to the Society.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioners pointed out the age of the accused persons while canvassing anticipatory bail. According