Sabarinadh vs State Of Kerala

Dr. Kauser Edappagath, J

This is an application filed u/s 438 of Code of Criminal Procedure seeking pre-arrest bail.

The petitioners are the accused Nos. 2 and 3 in Crime No.1153/2022 of Vadakkancherry Police Station, Palakkad. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 114, 468, 406, 120B, 420 read with 34 of the IPC.

The prosecution case in short is that the accused cheated the defacto complainant without giving back 109.99 sovereigns of gold ornaments that was pledged by her for an amount of ₹5,67,100/- in the Maben Nidhi Ltd., a sister concern of Malappuram Finance, even after repayment of the entire amount with its interest.

Heard both sides and perused the case diary.

The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners are absolutely innocent and they have been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submitted that there are no materials to connect the petitioners with the alleged crime and hence they are entitled to get bail. The learned Public Prosecutor opposed the bail application. He contended that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the petitioners and if the petitioners are released on bail at this stage, it would affect the course of investigation.

The petitioners are the accused Nos. 2 and 3 who are the employees of the company. The crime was registered pursuant to a private complaint filed by the petitioner before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Alathur as C.M.P.No.3456/2022. The petitioners were not made as parties in the private complaint. There are absolutely no allegations against the petitioners. The entire allegations in the private complaint are against the 1st accused. Considering the allegations levelled against the petitioners, the custodial interrogation of the petitioners does not appear to be necessary. For all these reasons, the petitioners are entitled to pre-arrest bail on conditions.

In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions:-

(i) The petitioners shall be released on bail in the event of their arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) each with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the arresting officer/investigating officer, as the case may be.

(ii) The petitioners shall fully co-operate with the investigation, including subjecting themselves to the deemed police custody for the purpose of discovery, if any, as and when demanded.

(iii) The petitioners shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m on every Saturday until further orders. The petitioners shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required by him.

(iv) The petitioners shall not commit any offence of like nature while on bail.

(v) The petitioners 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.

(vi) The petitioners shall not leave State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.