Kerala High Court
Shafeeq M.M vs State Of Kerala on 10 October, 2025
Author: V.G.Arun
Bench: V.G.Arun
CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025
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2025:KER:75286
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V.G.ARUN
FRIDAY, THE 10TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2025 / 18TH ASWINA, 1947
CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025
CRIME NO.153/2024 OF CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
AGAINST THE ORDER DATED 09.07.2025 IN CMP NO.2409 OF
2025 OF ADDITIONAL CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
PETITIONER/ACCUSED NO.15:
SHAFEEQ M.M
AGED 37 YEARS
S/O. MAITHEEN, FLAT NO. 604 A, HILITE LEPPIS,
HILITE CITY, BYPASS, KOZHIKKODE DISTRICT - 673 014,
(FROM MANGALATH VEEDU, NEAR KUMMANGAL MASJID,
KUMBAMKALLU KARA, KARIKKODE VILLAGE, THODUPUZHA,
IDUKKI DISTRICT.
BY ADVS.
SRI.GEORGE MATHEW
SHRI.SUNIL KUMAR A.G
SHRI.MATHEW K.T.
SHRI.GEORGE K.V.
SHRI.ADITHYA BENZEER
SMT.MEDHA B.S.
SHRI.JOHN ZACHARIAH DOMINIC
RESPONDENTS/STATE & COMPLAINANT:
1 STATE OF KERALA
REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM DISTRICT,
PIN - 682031
CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025
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2 THE STATION HOUSE OFFICER
CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION, CR. NO. 153 OF 2024,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
DISTRICT, PIN - 695033
SRI.VIPIN NARAYANAN, PUBLIC PROSECUTOR.
THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
10.10.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025
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ORDER
Dated this the 10th day of October, 2025 The petitioner is the 15th accused in Crime No.153 of 2024 of Cyber Crime Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram registered for the offences under Sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.
2. The crime was registered on the allegation that accused Nos.1 to 13 deceived the de facto complainant by promising high profits for the money invested in stock market trading and obtained Rs.1,99,00,000/- from the bank account of the de facto complainant and his wife. The specific allegation against the petitioner is of having transferred Rs.40,00,000/- out of the ill-gotten money to the account of the 1st accused in Cambodia through the petitioner's Binance ID as Crypto USDT online transfer.
3. The petitioner was arrested and remanded to judicial custody on 10.07.2024. He was later granted statutory bail vide Annexure A2 order dated 09.09.2024, subject to CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025 4 2025:KER:75286 certain conditions. As per condition (i) in Annexure A2, the petitioner was bound to appear before the Investigating Officer on every Saturday between 9 am and 11 am till conclusion of the trial and condition (iv) required the petitioner to surrender his passport. Accordingly, the petitioner surrendered his passport and appeared before the Investigating Officer as directed. Some time later, the petitioner moved an application seeking modification of the above conditions. The learned Magistrate modified condition
(i) but refused to modify condition (iv). Although petitioner again moved Annexure A10 application, praying to lift condition (iv) and permit him to go abroad, the second application was also dismissed by Annexure A11 order. Hence, this Criminal M.C.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner having been arrested and detained in custody till the statutory period was over, no purpose is served by preventing him from travelling outside the country. It is the submission of the learned counsel that the petitioner is conducting business in Dubai and Sierra Leone, and has no CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025 5 2025:KER:75286 intention of travelling to Cambodia as apprehended by the Investigating Officer.
5. In support of the submission that the petitioner has business interests in Dubai and Sierra Leone, attention is drawn to Annexures A12, A13 and A14. It is further submitted that, if the petitioner does not reach Dubai, his visa will not be renewed and if that happens, the business will have to be closed down.
6. Learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the investigation is not complete, and one accused was apprehended only recently. It is the submission of the learned Public Prosecutor that the petitioner is part of a gang involved in online fraud and permitting him to travel abroad will hamper the investigation.
7. The records produced along with the Criminal M.C. reveal that the petitioner was arrested on 10.07.2024, and continued in custody till 09.09.2024. The jurisdictional Magistrate has modified the condition requiring the petitioner to appear before the Investigating Officer. The records reveal that the petitioner is holding resident UAE visa. In such CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025 6 2025:KER:75286 circumstances, the petitioner can be permitted to travel to the UAE for a limited period of three months.
8. As pointed out by the learned Public Prosecutor, the petitioner may turn out to be a flight risk if he is permitted to travel to Sierra Leone. In such event, it will be difficult to get the petitioner repatriated from that country also.
For the aforementioned reasons, the Criminal M.C. is allowed and Annexure A11 order, quashed. The petitioner's passport shall be released for a period of three months and the petitioner permitted to travel to the UAE during that period, subject to the following conditions:
1. The petitioner shall file an affidavit before the jurisdictional Magistrate Court, undertaking to return within the three months' period. In the affidavit the petitioner shall provide the details of his travel plans as well as his foreign address, e-mail address and contact number abroad.
2. The petitioner shall surrender his passport in court before expiry of the three months.
CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025 7 2025:KER:75286
3. The petitioner shall engage a counsel to represent him before the trial court if need be.
4. If the petitioner fails to abide by the conditions, the Investigating Officer shall inform the Regional Passport Authority concerned and thereupon appropriate measures shall be taken to impound his passport.
5. In view of the permission granted, the condition in Annexure A9 order declaring the petitioner to appear before the investigating officer will stand suspended for three months.
Sd/-
V.G.ARUN JUDGE SMF CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025 8 2025:KER:75286 APPENDIX OF CRL.MC 7818/2025 PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure A1 TRUE COPY OF FIRST INFORMATION REPORT (FIR) IN CR. NO. 153 OF 2024 DTD.
03.07.2024 OF CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM DISTRICT Annexure A2 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DTD. 09.09.2024 IN B.A. NO. 6883 OF 2024 Annexure A3 TRUE COPY OF RESIDENCE PERMIT DTD.
12.03.2023 ISSUED BY UAE TO PETITIONER Annexure A4 TRUE COPY OF TENANCY CONTRACT INFORMATION REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE OF ONE INFRA MARKETING SERVICES LLC DTD. 06.04.2024 Annexure A5 TRUE COPY OF COMMON ORDER DTD. 10.10.2024 IN C.M.P. NO. 2956 OF 2024 AND C.M.P. NO. 2957 OF 2024 OF THE LEARNED ADDITIONAL CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE COURT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Annexure A6 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DTD. 30.10.2024 IN CRL.M.C. NO. 8812 OF 2024 Annexure A7 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DTD. 30.10.2024 IN CRL.M.C. NO. 8825 OF 2024 Annexure A8 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DTD. 25.03.2025 IN CRL.M.C. NO. 10856 OF 2025 Annexure A9 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DTD. 08.05.2025 IN C.M.P. NO. 1797 OF 2025 OF ADDITIONAL CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Annexure A10 TRUE COPY OF C.M.P. NO. 2409 OF 2025 DTD.
11.06.2025 OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF
JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE'S COURT,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ARISING FROM CR. NO 153 OF 2024 OF CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY Annexure A11 TRUE COPY OF ORDER DTD. 09.07.2024 IN C.M.P. NO. 2409 OF 2025 OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE COURT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Annexure A12 TRUE COPY OF PASSPORT BEARING NO.
Z7009376 ISSUED FROM PASSPORT OFFICE, KOCHI ON 20.01.2023 Annexure A13 TRUE COPY OF NON-NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD WHICH WAS VALID TILL 22.11.2024 CRL.MC NO. 7818 OF 2025 9 2025:KER:75286 Annexure A14 TRUE COPY OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION WITH TIN 1001194551 DTD.18.06.2024 ISSUED BY COMMISSIONER GENERAL