To attract an offence of organised crime under Section 111 of the BNS, the prosecution must establish "continuing unlawful activity," which strictly requires the filing of more than one charge-sheet in the preceding ten years and the court taking cognizance of such offences.

THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 21.08.2026, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

ORDER

Dated this the 21st day of August, 2026

The application is filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, ‘BNSS’), by the accused in Crime No.290/2026 of Rajapuram Police Station alleging that the petitioner has committed an offence punishable under Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short, ‘BNS’).

The crux of the prosecution case is that the petitioner had opened a bank account with the Kerala Gramin Bank, and did certain transactions, which he failed to account for. Consequently, the Bank had marked two liens on the petitioner’s bank account. To lift the lien noted on the bank account, the petitioner filed WP(C) No.43844/2025 before this Court. However, by Annexure- A2 judgment, this Court, on prima facie finding that the petitioner had opened the bank account to facilitate cyber crimes, directed the Investigating Officer to register a First Information Report for the offence under Section 111 of the BNS.

I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

The learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the offence under Section 111 of the BNS is not attracted against the petitioner. He drew my attention to the decisions of this Court in Mohammed Hashim v State of Kerala [2024 SCC Online Ker 5260] and Muhammad Rasheed v. State of Kerala [2024(5) KHC 417] to fortify his contention that, to attract an offence under Section 111 of the BNS, there should atleast be one charge-sheet filed against the accused in the preceding ten years, that too, as a member of a organized crime syndicate. In the case at hand, there is no charge-sheet filed against the petitioner in the preceding ten years. Therefore, by no stretch of imagination can the offence under Section 111 of the BNS be attributed against the petitioner. Hence, the petitioner may be granted an order of pre-arrest bail.

The learned Public Prosecutor fairly concedes to the fact that there is no charge-sheet filed against the petitioner in the preceding ten years as mandated under Section 111 of the BNS.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill 2023, aimed to modernise and transform the criminal justice delivery system in India, was passed by the Parliament and received the assent of the President on 25.12.2023. The provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Act 45 of 2023), except sub-section (2) of Section 106, came into force on 1.07.2024. By virtue of Section 358 of the BNS, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, stands repealed. The BNS has introduced new offences, including the offence of organised crime as defined under Section 111 (1).

In the above context it is apposite to analyse Section 111 of the BNS, which reads as follows:

“111. Organised Crime.

―(1) Any continuing unlawful activity including kidnapping, robbery, vehicle theft, extortion, land grabbing, contract killing, economic offence, cyber-crimes, trafficking of persons, drugs, weapons or illicit goods or services, human trafficking for prostitution or ransom, by any person or a group of persons acting in concert, singly or jointly, either as a member of an organized crime syndicate or on behalf of such syndicate, by use of violence, threat of violence, intimidation, coercion, or by any other unlawful means to obtain direct or indirect material benefit including a financial benefit, shall constitute organized crime.

Explanation. —For the purposes of this sub-section,― (i) “organised crime syndicate” means a group of two or more persons who, acting either singly or jointly, as a syndicate or gang indulge in any continuing unlawful activity (ii) “continuing unlawful activity” means an activity prohibited by law which is a cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment of three years or more, undertaken by any person, either singly or jointly, as a member of