IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K.T.SANKARAN TUESDAY, THE 6TH DECEMBER 2011 / 15TH AGRAHAYANA 1933 Bail Appl..No. 9666 of 2011 CRIME NO.317 OF 2011 OF PALAKKAD TOWN NORTH POLICE STATION. APPLICANT/ACCUSED NO.5 ------------------------------------------ SAJEEV KARUN, AGED 36 YEARS, S/O.KARUNAN, OZHUKAYIL HOUSE, CHELAKKARA, TRICHUR DISTRICT. BY ADV. SRI.P.VIJAYA BHANU, SENIOR ADVOCATE SRI.VIPIN NARAYAN SRI.UNNI SEBASTIAN KAPPEN RESPONDENT: COMPLAINANT -------------------------- STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM, REPRESENTING THE S.I. OF POLICE, PALAKKAD TOWN NORTH POLICE STATION. ADDL. DIRECTOR GENERAL OF PROSECTION SRI.K.I.ABDUL RASHEED THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 06/12/2011, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING: K.T.SANKARAN, J. ------------------------------------------------------ Bail Appl. NO. 9666 OF 2011 ------------------------------------------------------ Dated this the 6th day of December, 2011 O R D E R This is an application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The petitioner is accused No.5 in Crime No.317 of 2011 of Palakkad Town North Police Station, which is now re-registered as Crime No.773/CR/EOW-II/KTM/2011. Investigation of the case is now being conducted by CBCID, Ernakulam Sub Unit. 2. The offences alleged against the accused are under Sections 406 and 420 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act. 3. The defacto complainant filed a complaint before the Magistrate's Court, which was forwarded to the police for investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Accordingly, the crime was registered. The case of the BAIL APPL. NO.9666 OF 2011 :: 2 :: defacto complainant is that the accused collected a sum of `17,58,500/- from him promising high returns if the said amounts were deposited in Nano Excel Corporation. It is alleged that the defacto complainant was offered `3 lakhs per month as return. It is alleged that the defacto complainant did not get any amount as promised and he did not even get back the principal amount. The petitioner was arrested on 7.11.2011. 4. The learned Additional Director General of Prosecution submitted that the petitioner is a promoter and he canvassed several persons to invest money in Nano Excel Corporation. He was holding very high position in the company. It is submitted by the learned Additional Director General of Prosecution that the petitioner has received a sum of `1,42,51,236/- as commission by enrolling thousands of members in the company. It is alleged that the petitioner cheated 3459 persons, as per the investigation so far conducted. The learned Additional Director General of Prosecution also submitted that 88 cases have been registered at Thrissur West Police Station against the petitioner. 5. The investigation is in progress. The allegations levelled BAIL APPL. NO.9666 OF 2011 :: 3 :: against the petitioner are very grave in nature. Large sums of money are involved in the case. Several persons were allegedly cheated by the petitioner. If the petitioner is released on bail at this stage, it would certainly adversely affect the proper and smooth investigation of the case. It is most likely that the witnesses would be intimidated, harassed and terrorized if the petitioner is released on bail at this stage. It is also likely that he may make himself scarce and flee from justice, if bail is granted. For the aforesaid reasons, I am not inclined to grant bail to the petitioner at this stage. Accordingly, the Bail Application is dismissed. (K.T.SANKARAN) Judge ahz/