RENJITH KUMAR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner is an accused in Crime No.2558/2023 and 2557/2023 of the CBCID, Thiruvananthapuram. He faces indictment in a total of 78 cases for offences under Ss. 406, 408, 409 and 420 r/w Sec. 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. Petitioner was arrested on 18/5/2023 on the allegation that he had cheated various persons as an accountant of a Hospital Co-operative Society and failed to return the deposit on demand.

(2.) Since the petitioner was arrested on 18/5/2023 and the investigation was not completed, he was granted statutory bail on 14-08- 2023 and 27/9/2023 in the cases mentioned above. However, till date, petitioner has not been released from custody due to his failure to furnish sufficient sureties. In 25 cases the learned Magistrate accepted the sureties offered by the petitioner. But in Crime No.2558/2023 and 2557/2023, by the impugned order, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thiruvananthapuram, refused to accept the second surety offered by the petitioner, stating that the value of the property offered by her was not commensurate with the bond required to be executed. On the said basis it was held that the second surety does not inspire the confidence of the court.

(3.) I have considered the submissions of Sri. Latheesh Sebastian, the learned counsel for the petitioner and Smt.V.Sreeja, the learned Public Prosecutor.