Anu Samuel vs State Of Kerala

Ziyad Rahman A.A., J

The petitioner is the 1st accused in Crime No.3570 of 2022 of Pala Police Station, which was registered under Sections 420 and 406 read with Section 34 IPC.

Allegation against the petitioner and other accused is that, they, with the intention to cheat the de facto complainant and her son Nivin Jose, collected an amount of Rs.25,00,000/-, promising to arrange MBBS admission in CMC, Velloor Medical College for her son, and later they failed to arrange the seat as offered and the amount was not repaid. The petitioner was arrested on 23.12.2022 and since then, he has been in judicial custody. The contention put forward by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that, he is innocent of the allegation and he does not have any direct involvement in the matter. He was falsely implicated and he never received any amount from the de facto complainant as alleged.

On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor would oppose the prayer sought by the petitioner. It is contended that, as against the petitioner, another crime is also registered, which contains similar allegations. In such circumstances, the learned Public Prosecutor seeks for dismissal of the application.

After considering all the relevant aspects, I am of the view that, bail can be granted to the petitioner. This is particularly because, the petitioner is in custody since 23.12.2022 and there is substantial progress in the investigation. It is discernible that, no further recovery is to be affected from the petitioner. Therefore, the continuation of the detention of the petitioner appears to be not necessary.

In such circumstances, bail can be granted to the petitioner subject to the following conditions:

(i) The petitioner shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Magistrate/ Court.

(ii) The petitioner shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m on every Tuesday until the filing of final report.

(iv) The petitioner shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required by him.

(v) The petitioner shall not commit any offence of like nature while on bail.

(vi) The petitioner shall not make any attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.

(vii) The petitioner shall not leave State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.