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Judgment
This application is filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, BNSS), seeking pre-arrest bail.
The applicant is the accused No.2 in Crime No.1683/2021 of Valiyathura Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 419, 465, 468 and 471 r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 12(1)(b) and 12(1)(d) of the Passports Act, 1967.
The prosecution case, in short, is that the accused No.1 fraudulently created fake documents by using the name, address and date of birth of the relative of the accused No.1, and thereafter, with the help of the applicant, produced those fake documents before the Passport Office, Thiruvananthapuram and obtained the passport affixing the photograph of the accused No.1 on 11.09.1998 and thereafter renewed the same on 10.09.2017 and obtained a new passport. Thereafter, on 15.09.2021 at about 7 p.m., the accused No.1, by using the said fake passport as a genuine passport, reached Thiruvananthapuram International Airport for going to Dubai, at that time, he was caught by the Immigration Officials and thereby committed the aforementioned offences.
I have heard Sri.V.I. Rahul, the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri. Vinay.V, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.
The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the above crime. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. The learned Senior Public Prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the alleged incident occurred as part of the applicant's intentional criminal acts, and if he is released on bail at this stage, it will affect the course of the investigation.
I went through the report. The main allegation is against the accused No.1 who procured the passport by producing the forged documents. The allegation against the applicant is that he is a passport agent and he assisted the accused No.1 in obtaining the passport. The accused No.1 has already been arrested. The alleged incident took place in the year 1998. The applicant has no criminal antecedents. Considering the allegations made against the applicant, his custodial interrogation seems unnecessary. For these reasons, I find this to be an appropriate case to grant pre-arrest bail to the applicant.
In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions:-
The applicant shall be released on bail in the event of his arrest on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the arresting officer/investigating officer, as the case may be.
The applicant shall fully cooperate with the investigation, including subjecting himself to the deemed police custody for discovery, if any, as and when demanded.
The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. He shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.
The applicant shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.
The applicant shall not attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or in any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.
The applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.
The application, if any, for deletion/modification of bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.