Latha Premanand v. State of Kerala
In the High Court of Kerala
B.A. 7917/2015 & 8100/2015
Before Justice A. Hariprasad
Decided on January 07, 2016

Relevancy of the case: Anticipatory bail in a case involving the forgery of digital signature

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 34, 408, 465, 467, 468, 420)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 438)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The accused had allegedly cheated the complainant, who is the Chairman of Aswini Hospital Ltd., and its shareholders, by forging the digital signature of the complainant and using it to upload some forms on the website of the Registrar of Companies. Their action caused an unlawful gain to the accused and unlawful loss to the complainant.
• Under the order of the Court dated 23.12.2015, accused 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 had surrendered, arrested by the police, and subsequently released on bail. The third accused could not surrender as he was laid up.

Opinion of the Bench

• The court is inclined to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioners subject to certain conditions.
• In case of violation of the given conditions, the concerned officer may arrest the petitioners without delay as if this prder was never passed.

Final Decision

• The pre-bail arrest was granted.

This case summary has been prepared by Shrawani Mohani, an undergraduate student at ILS Law College, Pune, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.