Sunitha vs State Of Kerala

Mohammed Nias C.P., J

All these applications are filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, seeking regular bail.

Petitioners 1 and 2 in all the bail applications are respectively accused Nos.1 and 4 in Crime Nos. 774/2023, 781/2023, 800/2023, 782/2023, 841/2023, 804/2023, 785/2023, 862/2023 and 783/2023 of Kollam Shakthikulangara Police Station. The offences alleged against the petitioners are punishable under Sections 420 and 34 of IPC.

The prosecution case is that, A1 and A2 are the Managing Directors, A3 is the manager and A4 is the consultant of Japan Nursing Care Farm Jobs 'GDGH Private Limited' near Vallikkezhu Junction in Sakthikulangara village. Through social media apps, the accused advertised overseas employment in Japan stating that an employment visa as Health Care Taker in Japan would be provided on payment of Rs.3,60,000/-. Believing the said advertisement, when the de facto complainant approached the said institution, the accused dishonestly induced him to deliver Rs.10,000/-towards the registration fee and subsequently Rs.1,25,000/- on various occasions. As per the prosecution case, the accused also induced one Jerry Peter, Amal Joseph, and Mibin and collected Rs.5,45,000/-. Many job seekers have fallen prey to the fraud committed by the accused and the accused have misappropriated several lakhs of rupees by duping the job seekers and thereby committed the offences mentioned above.

The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are innocent. It is his submission that the FIR was registered on 23 06.2023 and the police have been investigating the case since then and that, with the arrest and interrogation of the accused, the investigation is almost over and further custody of the petitioners is not necessary. According to the learned counsel, there is no evidence to connect the petitioners to the crime and the petitioners will abide by the conditions to be imposed by this Court. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits as per the FIS, as seen from Annexure-A1 in BA 7579, that it was on the basis of status in whatsapp in a phone, bearing No.8089944807, a fake message was sent and the same triggered the cases. As against this, through Annexure-A3, a complaint was given to the District Police Chief on 29.6.2023. It is also his submission that though the prosecution alleges a collection of around Rs.67 lakh, the amount to be returned to those who claimed is only around Rs.20 lakh. It is also pointed out that no charge has been filed and that there are no antecedents as far as the petitioners are concerned. All the documents/bank documents have already been seized by the police and in the instant case, the accused were in police custody for three days.

The learned Public Prosecutor opposes the bail applications and submits that more than 300 clients were cheated, though all of them had not given complaints.

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Senior Public Prosecutor.

After having considered the submissions made by both sides and also taking into account the fact the accused have been detained since 29.6.2023, that most of the relevant documents are seized, as pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioners some of the candidates who demanded a refund of the amounts were given as seen from the prosecution documents itself, the entire events were triggered on the basis of a message against which a complaint was given to the District Police Chief, that no charge sheet has been filed so far, that there is no apprehension raised by the prosecution that if released on bail the petitioners are likely to abscond, I am of the view that continued detention of the petitioners is unnecessary as there are no antecedents reported against the petitioners other than these cases.

In the result, all the bail applications are allowed and the petitioners are released on bail on the following conditions:-

The petitioners shall be released on bail on executing separate bonds for Rs.200,000/- (Rupees Two lakhs only) each with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court;

They shall report before the Investigating Officer as and when directed;

They shall not tamper or attempt to tamper with the evidence or influence or try to influence the witnesses;

They shall not be involved in any other crime while on bail.

They shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the Court having jurisdiction;

They shall not leave India without the permission of the jurisdictional Court and, if they have passports, shall deposit the same before the Trial Court within a week. If the release of the passports is required at a later period, the petitioners shall be at liberty to move appropriate applications for the same before the Court having jurisdiction.

If any of the conditions are violated, the court concerned will be empowered to take steps for cancellation of bail as per law.