Sulaiman vs State Of Kerala

Headnote AI-drafted · Reviewed and approved

The petitioners, accused Nos.1 to 6 in Crime No.2827/2023 of Ernakulam Town South Police Station, filed an application under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, seeking pre-arrest bail. They were alleged to have committed offences under Sections 120-B, 409, 420, 465, 468 and 471 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, in connection with fraudulently removing the de-facto complainant from the position of Director in a company and selling its property without his knowledge or consent.

The petitioners contended that the accusations were false and frivolous, highlighted an inordinate delay of approximately 15 years between the alleged incident (01.01.2008) and registration of the crime (05.12.2023), and submitted that they had co-operated with the investigation pursuant to an interim order dated 13.03.2024. They further argued that custodial interrogation was unnecessary, that documents demanded by the Investigating Officer had either been destroyed or handed over to the Registrar of Companies, and that some petitioners were minors at the time of the alleged offences.

The prosecution and the intervenor opposed the application, contending that the petitioners were not co-operating with the investigation and had deliberately withheld incriminating original documents required for proper investigation. The court considered the rival submissions and proceeded to analyse the matter.

Catchwords: pre-arrest bail · anticipatory bail · criminal conspiracy · criminal breach of trust · cheating · forgery · company director · share transfer · Registrar of Companies · custodial interrogation · delay in registration of FIR

Anticipatory bail Forged documents