Viju Abraham , J
1. These are applications for anticipatory bail.
2. In the above bail applications, petitioner is the accused in Crime Nos. 608/2022, 588/2022, 586/2022, 590/2022, 591/2022, 592/2022, 610/2022,
612/2022, 761/2022, 614/2022, 618/2022, 609/2022, 613/2022, 615/2022, 611/2022 & 607/2022 of CUSBA Police Station, Kozhikode district alleging
commission of offences punishable under Sections 420, 465, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code.
3. The essential allegation against the accused in these cases is that, they have forged documents and produced the same before KSFE and availed
huge amounts as loan and thereby they have committed the offence.
4. The petitioner submits that he has been falsely implicated in the above said crimes. The real facts of the case is that, a group of people from
Malappuram district joined for chitties in various branches of KSFE in 2021. They themselves introduced as a business group involved in the field of
fruits and vegetables and real estate. They paid the chitty installments promptly. It is known that to avail chitty loans they have produced all the
relevant documents including original and prior documents, possession certificate, encumbrance certificate, location certificate, plan and sketch etc. All
the documents were scutinized by the concerned officers at KSFE and has sent for legal scrutiny. After that, on the direction of the concerned branch
manager, the petitioner collected the relevant documents from the same KSFE Branch Office and inspected the security property along with the
Manager and the customer, to value it. As usual he asked questions to the customer and he enquired the market value there and valued the property.
Identifying the property and checking the certificates of the property is not his job entrusted. It is the discretion of the KSFE to release loan to a
customer based on the valuation. If the loan sanctioning authority feels that the valuation is high then another valuer will be appointed to value again.
Then the average amount will be taken as valuation. If a property is valued at one Crore, then 50 lakhs will be given as loan. Above is the system
adopted by the KSFE in issuing loans based on immovable property. There is no case that he valued the property at a higher rate. Some other valuers
are there in the KSFE to value the properties. He is one among them. Because the selection of valuer is the choice of the conerned manager. There is
no case or allegation against him that he was recommended as valuer by the loanees or he himself sought permission to value the alleged properties.
Within 4 months he valued some of the properties owned by the other accused as per the direction of the concerned Manager, Mavoor Road Branch
and the Manager at Engapuzha. He is only an approved valuer of KSFE. He valued all the properties in the presence of the complainant. He had no
previous acquaintance with the original culprits. The loan amount was transferred via RTGS to the personal account of the loanees. He is not aware
about the forging of documents or any other things. The petitioner knew the news of cheating from the newspaper. It is also submitted that he was in
custody from 16.10.2022 to 25.11.2022 and he was questioned at its length. No specific allegations was raised against him. He valued the property in
accordance with the site plan produced by the parties. That plan was given to him by the complainant. So it cannot be inferred that he had intention to
cheat KSFE authorities. It is further submitted that the petitioner was really under the custody of CUSBA Police for a long period. All the cases
registered are similar in nature and the allegation raised are same/identical. Annexure A1 reveals that the above crime was registered on 01.09.2022
and the petitioner was arrested and detained after 01.09.2022. It is also submitted that he is ready and willing to co-operate with the investigation and
that he was thoroughly interrogated in the connected cases.
5. When the matter came up for consideration on earlier occasion, I have directed the petitioner to appear before the Investigating Officer and co-
operate with the same. It was subsequently reported by the learned Public Prosecutor that petitioner has appeared, but has not fully co-operated with
the investigation. Thereupon the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that he is ready and willing to appear before the Investigating Officer and
co-operate with the same.
6. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and nature of allegation, I am inclined to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner, granting limited
custody for the purpose of the investigation.
In the result, these applications are allowed. The Petitioner shall surrender before the Investigating Officer in the above said crimes of CUSBA Police
Station on 28.01.2023 at 11 AM and shall make himself available for interrogation on that day or any other day/days (between 9 AM to 6 PM) as
directed by the Investigating Officer. The petitioner shall co-operate with the investigation. In the event of arrest of the petitioner in the above said
crimes of CUSBA Police Station, he shall be produced before the jurisdictional Court on the very same day and shall be released on bail subject to the
following stringent conditions.
(i) The petitioner shall execute a bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like-sum to the satisfaction of the
Jurisdictional Court;
(ii) The petitioner shall appear before the investigating officer in the above said crimes of CUSBA Police Station, on every Saturday at 11.00 a.m. until filing of the final
report.
(iii) Petitioner shall report to the Investigating Officer as and when required for the investigation.
(iv) The petitioner shall not attempt to influence the defacto complainant or interfere with the investigation or to influence or intimidate any witness in the above said
crimes of CUSBA Police Station;
(v) The petitioner shall not involve in any other crime while on bail.
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If any of the aforesaid conditions are violated, the investigating officer in the above said crimes of CUSBA Police Station may file an application
before the jurisdictional Court, for cancellation of bail.
It is made clear that it is within the power of the police to investigate the matter and if necessary to effect recoveries on the information if any given
by the petitioner even when the petitioner is on bail as per the judgment of the Apex Court in Sushila Aggarwal and others v. State (NCT of Delhi)
and another (2020 (1) KHC 663).
