IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BECHU KURIAN THOMAS MONDAY, THE 25^TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025 / 3RD BHADRA, 1947 BAIL APPL. NO. 10751 OF 2025 CBCID, IDUKKI, Idukki CRIME NO.1507 Of Year 2025 PETITIONER(S)/ACCUSED:

K.N.ANAND KUMAR AGED 70 YEARS S/O T D NANDAPPAN PILLAI TC 9/1108, AJITH BUILDINGS SASTHAMANGALAM P O SASTHAMANGALAM VILLAGE THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695010 BY ADVS.

SMT.ANNAPOORNA DEVI A.

SRI.S.RAJEEV SMT.DIPA V.

SRI.M.S.ANEER SRI.V.VINAY SHRI.SARATH K.P.

SHRI.ANILKUMAR C.R.

SHRI.K.S.KIRAN KRISHNAN SHRI.AZAD SUNIL SHRI.AKASH CHERIAN THOMAS SRI.RAAJESH S.SUBRAHMANIAN RESPONDEN T ( S )/STATE AND COMPLAINAN T :

STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM, PIN – 682031 SRI.PRASANTH.M.P - PP THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON

25.08.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BECHU KURIAN THOMAS MONDAY, THE 25^TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025 / 3RD BHADRA, 1947 BAIL APPL. NO. 10773 OF 2025 CBCID, KOTTAYAM, Kottayam CRIME NO.2571/2025 PETITIONER(S)/ACCUSED:

K.N.ANAND KUMAR AGED 70 YEARS S/O T D NANDAPPAN PILLAI TC 9/1108 AJITH BUILDINGS SASTHAMANGALAM P O SASTHAMANGALAM VILLAGE THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695010 BY ADVS.

SMT.ANNAPOORNA DEVI A.

SRI.S.RAJEEV SMT.DIPA V. SRI.V.VINAY SRI.M.S.ANEER SHRI.SARATH K.P.

SHRI.ANILKUMAR C.R.

SHRI.K.S.KIRAN KRISHNAN SHRI.AKASH CHERIAN THOMAS SHRI.AZAD SUNIL SRI.RAAJESH S.SUBRAHMANIAN RESPONDEN T ( S )/STATE AND COMPLAINAN T :

STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM, PIN - 682031 SRI.PRASANTH.M.P - PP THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON

25.08.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J.

………………………………………………………....

Bail Appl. Nos.10751 & 10773 of 2025 ……………………………………………………...…. Dated this the 25^th day of August, 2025.

COMMON ORDER

These bail applications are filed under section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’).

2. Petitioner is the accused in various crimes registered in different police stations in the State. The offences alleged against the petitioner in all these cases are almost identical and it includes those under Section 420 r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, ‘IPC’), apart from Section 3 r/w Section 21(1)(2)(3), Section 5 r/w Section 23 of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act, 2019 (for short, ‘BUDS Act’). In some of the cases the offences alleged are under Sections 318(2), 318(4) r/w Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNS’) also.

3. The gist of the allegations in all these crimes are also almost similar. The prosecution alleges that the accused, with an intent to cheat the respective defacto complainants, induced them to deposit large amounts of money by promising to supply various articles at half the actual market value, and thereafter, failed to provide the said articles or return the amounts collected from the individual complainants and thereby cheated them and committed the offences alleged.

4. Petitioner is involved in around 500 cases altogether and his arrest was recorded in the first crime on 11.03.2025 and from then on he has been in custody till date. In the present cases, petitioner’s arrest was recorded on 26.07.2025.

5. I have heard Sri. S. Rajeev, the learned Counsel for the petitioner as well as Sri.Prasanth M.P., the learned Public Prosecutor.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that petitioner is the founder and executive director of Sree Satya Sai Orphanage Trust, which is rendering yeoman services all over the State and that he has been at the helm of affairs of various trusts and charitable organizations. According to the learned counsel, while he was rendering such services, he became acquainted with the first accused, who introduced, through his proprietorship concern, a scheme for arranging various equip