Muhammed Najeer vs State Of Kerala

Jobin Sebastian, J

This petition for regular bail has been filed by the sole accused in crime No.528/2024 of Valayam Police Station, registered alleging the commission of offences punishable under Section 316(2) and 318(4) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The prosecution allegation in brief is as follows:

The accused and the defacto complainant got acquainted with each other through ‘Instagram’, a social media platform. Thereafter, the accused with an intention to make unlawful gain to him and to make unlawful loss to the defacto complainant, made to believe the defacto complainant that he is a proprietor of a jewellery shop and requested her to hand over gold ornaments to use it as a model for making new gold ornaments. The accused also assured that after selling the newly made gold ornaments, he would share the profit with her. Believing the words of the accused, on 22.11.2024, the defacto complainant had entrusted 5 sovereigns of gold ornaments to the accused and the accused in turn had handed over a bag which contained some imitation gold ornaments, a candy packet and a halwa packet. Thereafter, the accused deleted his instagram account. Moreover, the accused neither returned the gold ornaments nor shared profit and thereby cheated the defacto complainant. Hence the accused is alleged to have committed the offences mentioned above.

Heard both sides and perused the available records.

From a perusal of the records, it is discernible that the accusation against the petitioner is prima facie well founded. The allegation that the petitioner practiced deception on an innocent lady and grabbed her 5 sovereigns of gold ornaments cannot be viewed lightly. From the submission made by the learned Public Prosecutor, it is gatherable that, the petitioner is having criminal antecedents and he is involved in a similar case registered as crime No.597/2024 of Kuttiady Police Station for offences punishable under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of BNS. Of course, an in-depth investigation is highly necessary to find out how many persons were cheated in a similar mode by the petitioner. Anyhow, the petitioner was arrested in this case on 30.11.2024 and since then, he has been in custody. The investigation in this case appears to have crossed its major and crucial part and is on the verge of completion. The continued detention of the petitioner in judicial custody is unwarranted and the same will serve no purpose. Hence considering the days of detention already undergone by the petitioner and the stage of investigation, I am inclined to grant bail to the petitioner on conditions.

In the result, this petition is allowed on the following conditions:

(1) The petitioner shall be released on bail on he executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/-(Rupees One Lakh only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the court having jurisdiction.

(2) The petitioner shall appear before the Investigating Officer on alternate Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., starting from 11.01.2025 for a period of three months or till the final report is filed, whichever occurs first.

(3) The petitioner shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required and shall cooperate with the investigation.

(4) The petitioner shall not intimidate or influence the witnesses; or tamper with the evidence.

(5) The petitioner shall not commit any offence while he is on bail.

(6) It is made clear that, in the event of a violation of any of the above conditions, the investigating officer is at liberty to approach the jurisdictional court for cancellation of bail. In that event, the jurisdictional court shall consider such application and pass appropriate orders.