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Judgment
1.The petitioner is stated to be the 2nd accused in crime no.428/2011 of Kozhikode Kasaba police station. He is alleged to have committed along with others offences punishable under Secs 404, 420, 468 and 471 of IPC read with IPC 34.
2.The prosecution case is that the 1st accused forged the signature of the first informant and obtained a loan of Rs 1.35 crores from the Kozhikode branch of the ICICI bank. It is alleged that it was done with the connivance of accused 2 and 3.
3.The petitioner contends that he was only the loan sanctioning authority seated at Thiruvananthapuram during the relevant time. It is also contended that the papers relating to the loan should be processed by the counsellor concerned who was the 3rd accused. B.A.8343/17
4.Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned public prosecutor.
5.Forgery was allegedly committed by the 1st accused.
The papers of loan were processed by the 3rd accused. The petitioner, the 2nd accused, was only the loan sanctioning authority. It is also contended that the loan sanctioning authority has no duty to verify the signatures in the loan application and connected papers. In these circumstances I am inclined to grant bail under Sec.438 of Cr.P.C to the petitioner despite the objection of the public prosecutor. The 3rd accused who had to process the loan papers was granted anticipatory bail by this court as per the order in B.A.6974/2017. A copy of the said order is annex- A1. I do not see any reason why it should be denied to the petitioner.
6.The application is allowed. If arrested in connection with crime no.428/2011 of Kozhikode Kasaba police station, the petitioner shall be released on bail after interrogation, if any, on his executing a bond for Rs.30,000/- (thirty thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the investigating officer. The petitioner shall co-operate with the investigation. He shall make himself available for interrogation if so required by the investigating officer. The petitioner shall not intimidate or attempt to influence witnesses.
Nor shall he destroy or tamper with evidence. Nor shall he attempt to interfere with the investigation. The court concerned is hereby empowered to cancel the bail in accordance with law if any of the above conditions is violated. If the petitioner surrenders before the court concerned, this order shall have no effect and the court concerned will pass appropriate orders as if this order has not been passed.