The High Court of Kerala quashed proceedings against two accused persons arguing that the prosecution case's substratum was lost following the acquittal of other co-accused on merits, as key witnesses failed to identify any accused.
Prosecution against the petitioners in Crl.M.C.No.997/15 and Crl.M.C.No.1008/15 will stand quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT:
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.UBAID
TUESDAY, THE 3RD DAY OF MARCH 2015/12TH PHALGUNA, 1936
Crl.MC.No.997 of 2015 ()
CRIME NO.90 OF 2008 OF BEKAL POLICE STATION, ORIGINALLY NUMBERED AS S.C.NO.264 OF 2009, RE-FILED AS S.C.NO.864 OF 2012 AND NOW PENDING AS L.P.C.NO.04 OF 2013 ON THE FILES OF THE ADDITIONAL SESSIONS COURT-II, KASARAGOD
PETITIONER(S)/ACCUSED NO.20 :
DERIK D, AGED 28 YEARS S/O. DENSON, KARIPODI, PALAKKUNNU P.O.BEKAL, HOSDURG TALUK.
BY ADV. SRI.A.ARUNKUMAR
RESPONDENT(S)/COMPLAINANT/STATE :
STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM-682 031.
BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SMT.P.MAYA
THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 03-03-2015, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
VS
Crl.MC.No.997 of 2015 ()
APPENDIX
PETITIONER(S)' EXHIBITS
| ANNEXURE AI : COPY OF THE FIR IN CRIME NO.90 OF 2008 BY THE BEKAL POLICE STATION, KASARAGOD. |
|---|
| ANNEXURE AII : COPY OF THE FINAL REPORT IN CRIME NO.90 OF 2008 BY THE BEKAL POLICE STATION, KASARAGOD. |
| ANNEXURE AIII : COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN SC NO.264 OF 2010 ON THE FILES OF ADDITIONAL DISTRICT AND SESSIONS COURT-II, KASARAGOD, DTD.20.5.2013. |
| ANNEXURE AIV : COPY OF THE ORDER DTD.5.1.2015 IN CRL.MC NO.7388 OF 2014. |
RESPONDENT(S)' EXHIBITS NIL
/TRUE COPY/
PA TO JUDGE
VS
P.UBAID, J
--------------------------------------------------------
Crl.M.C.No.997 &1008 of 2015
--------------------------------------------------------- Dated this the 3rd day of March, 2015
ORDER
The petitioner in Crl.M.C.No.997/15 is the original accused No.20 in Crime.No.90/08 of the Bekal Police Station, registered under Sections 143, 147, 148, 332 and 308 r/w 149 of IPC, under Section 3(2)(c) of PDPP Act, and under Section 2 of Kerala Prevention of Disturbance of Public Meeting Act, 1961, and the petitioner in Crl.M.C.No.1008/15 is the accused No.12 in the said crime. 9 among the 20 accused in the crime faced trial before the learned Additional Sessions Judge-II, Kasaragod, in S.C.No.264 of 2009 and obtained a judgment of acquittal on merits, on the finding that the prosecution miserably failed to prove the case. The case against the original 15th accused was quashed by this court, as per the order dated 5.1.2015 in Crl.M.C.No.788 of 2014. The case against these two petitioners was split up and refiled- The case against the accused No.12 is now pending in the committal court itself as C.P.No.101/14,
Crl.M.C.No.997 &1008 of 2015 2
and the case against the accused No.20, refiled as S.C.No.864/2012, in the Court of Sessions, now stands transferred to the Registrar of Long Pending Cases as L.P.C.No.4/2013, before the learned Additional Sessions Judge-II, Kasaragod. The petitioners now seek orders to quashing prosecution against them, on the ground that, the very substratum of the prosecution case stands lost by the acquittal or the others, and that continuance of the prosecution as against them will serve no purpose.
Crl.M.C.No.997 &1008 of 2015 3
the scene plan and PW7 is an attester to the scene Mahazar. PW6 is the Sub Inspector who was on duty at the place of incident and who also sustained some injuries. PWs 8 and 9 are the two independent eye witnesses examined by the prosecution. They are nearby shop owners. The independent witnesses examined by the prosecution turned hostile during trial. PW1 to 3 stated during trial that they had sustained injuries in a mob attack. But, they could not identify the persons who inflicted injuries on them. PW6 also could not identify anybody during trial. All the material witnesses stated about a mob attack in which they sustained injuries, but none of the witnesses identified any of the accused during trial. In the absence of any evidence or incriminating circumstance against the accused, the learned Trial Judge acquitted 9 among the accused on 20.5.2013.
lost and that continuance of the prosecution will not serve any purpose. The prosecution cannot in any manner prove the case.
Crl.M.C.No.997 &1008 of 2015
4
In the result, the two petitions are allowed. The prosecution against the petitioners in Crl.M.C.No.997/15, now pending before the learned Additional Sessions Judge-II, Kasaragod, in L.P.C.No.4/2013 and also the case against the petitioner in Crl.M.C.No.1008/15, now pending before the learned Judicial First Class Magistrate-II, Hosdurg, as C.P.No.101/14 will stand quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
Sd/- P.UBAID JUDGE
/TRUE COPY/
PA TO JUDGE
vs
2 issues framed by the court
Whether prosecution against petitioners can be quashed when the substratum of the case is lost due to acquittal of other co-accused.
Whether continuance of prosecution will serve any purpose given the failure of prosecution to identify accused.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
DERIK D
STATE OF KERALA
P.UBAID
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
