Sundar Menon v. State of Kerala
Case brief
What is this about?
Pre-arrest bail under Section 482 BNSS allowed for sole petitioner accused in four deposit-cheating FIRs (Crime Nos.1724/2024, 378/2025, 448/2025, 499/2025, Thrissur Town West PS) under Ss.406 & 420 IPC and Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act 2019, involving deposits with Heewan Nidhi Limited and Heewan Finance Limited; directions to surrender and undergo interrogation, conditional release on Rs.50,000 bond with two sureties; bail-is-the-rule jurisprudence; Kerala High Court, P.V. Kunhikrishnan, J., 26 March 2025.
What did the court decide?
Bail Applications allowed with directions: (1) petitioner to appear before the Investigating Officer within two weeks and undergo interrogation; (2) if the Investigating Officer proposes arrest after interrogation, release on bail on a bond of Rs.50,000/- with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the arresting officer; (3) to appear for interrogation as and when required, cooperate with the investigation, and not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to dissuade any person acquainted with the facts from disclosing them; (4) not to leave India without permission of the jurisdictional Court; (5) not to commit a similar offence; (6) investigating officer empowered to investigate and, if necessary, effect recoveries on information given by the petitioner even while on bail, as laid down in Sushila Aggarwal; (7) observations and findings in the order are only for deciding these bail applications, with the principle laid down in Anzar Azeez v. State of Kerala stated as applicable; (8) jurisdictional Court may cancel the bail on violation of any condition, with liberty to the prosecution and the victim to approach it for cancellation.