‘Prima facie doubtful’: Why Kerala High Court granted bail to 5 men accused of caste based abuse during local body polls

Findings

• The petitioners have a case in which they also made a complaint regarding the violation of election rules, though no crime was registered against them.
• Having considered the factual matrix involved in this case, which arose out of political rivalry, that too on the date of the election, the prosecution’s case and the allegations would require investigation to find the truth.
• Prima facie, the allegations raise some doubts.
• In that case, the prisoners can be enlarged on anticipatory bail by imposing conditions.
• Even though the involvement of one of the accused in three more crimes is a negative factor, according to the counsel for the petitioners, in two of the cases, the accused was acquitted/quashed, and copies of the verdict have been produced by the counsel.
• To avoid discrimination among the accused on the same footing, they can be enlarged on bail.

Background

• The petitioners filed a plea against the single judge order that dismissed the anticipatory bail in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and relevant provisions of BNS.
• According to the first information statement, on December 9, 2025, on the day of local body elections, the petitioners, who do not belong to either the scheduled caste or the scheduled tribe community, allegedly reached the office of the de facto complainant, a member of the Parava community along with others by stating that none of the members of the Parava colony would be spared.
• On this premise, the prosecution alleged commission of offences punishable under Sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 296(b) (obscene acts and songs) read with Section 3(5) (When a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all, each of such persons is liable for that act in the same manner as if it were done by him alone) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 as well as under Sections 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for short, ‘the SC/ST (POA) Act’, by the accused persons.