Shivangi Prakash –
Published on: August 31, 2021, at 11:37 IST
The Kerala High Court granted regular Bail to five accused in the Kodakara Money Heist Case, which allegedly involved a Robbery of around Rs. 3.5 crores near the Kodakara over-bridge on NH 544.
While granting the Bail requests, Justice K Haripal noted that 10 of the 22 accused in the case had already been released on bail earlier this month.
The Court granted bail to the applicants on identical grounds after determining that there were no good reasons to keep them in custody any longer.
The Applicants have filed their second bail application. Their first Bail application was denied by the Court last month because the inquiry was still ongoing.
In April of this year, the applicants were accused of stealing a big sum of money and then dividing it among themselves. They’ve been imprisoned for about three months.
The Bail pleas had previously been rejected by the Court, which noted that the case had various enigmatic characteristics.
The incident occurred on April 3rd, but the police were not notified until April 7th, and the crime was only recorded on April 7th.
All 22 defendants, including those who conducted the heist and those who plotted the robbery and divided the money, were charged with the crimes.
Following that, a final report was filed against these 22 people, and they were detained.
The petitioners’ attorneys argued that their continued detention was unnecessary because the inquiry had progressed.
The Single Bench noted that 10 of the accused in the case were granted Bail in a detailed ruling dated August 13, 2021.
The police’s final report was the most important factor in deciding whether or not to issue bail.
The Court also found that, although it was merely a preliminary final report, there were no compelling reasons for the accused persons’ continuing incarceration.
The same logic was discovered to be relevant in the current applications as well.
“Even though the learned Additional Director General of Prosecution has opposed the applications for bail, borrowing the very same reasonings in granting bail to other ten accused, these petitioners also can be released on bail”, the Court held.
As a result, the Applicants have been released on bail, subject to rigorous conditions such as not entering the Thrissur revenue district unless to attend Court, until further orders.
Click here to read/download the Order
Also Read: What is Interim Bail?