Allowed

Satheesan v. State of Kerala

Kerala HC14 Oct 2020Crl.MC/1500/2020

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

High Court of Kerala quashed criminal proceedings against the petitioner (accused absconding) in a case arising from communal clash. Noting acquittals of all other accused due to lack of incriminating evidence and identification, the court found no possibility of conviction and quashed the trial as an abuse of process.

What did the court decide?

Criminal Misc. Case Crl.M.C. No.1500 of 2020 is allowed; proceedings in S.C.No.718 of 2013 before IVth Additional Sessions Court, Thrissur are quashed.

Satheesan Vs State of Kerala — Quashing and FIR | Kerala HC (2020)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V.G.ARUN

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WEDNESDAY, THE 14TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2020 / 22ND ASWINA, 1942

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Crl.MC.No.1500 OF 2020(F)

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SC 718/2013 OF ADDITIONAL SESSIONS COURT -IV, THRISSUR CRIME NO.25/1999 OF Kodungallur Police Station, Thrissur

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PETITIONER/S:

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SATHEESAN AGED 44 YEARS S/O. SANKARANARAYANAN, AYINIPPULLY HOUSE, S.N. PURAM, KODUNGALLUR, 680 665.

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BY ADVS. SRI.MANSOOR.B.H. SMT.JANET JOB

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RESPONDENT/S:

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1 STATE OF KERALA

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REP. BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM 682 031.

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2 STATION HOUSE OFFICER, KODUNGALLUR POLICE STATION, THRISSUR 680 655.

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OTHER PRESENT:

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SR.PP.AMJAD ALI

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THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION

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ON 14.10.2020, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE

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FOLLOWING:

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Crl.M.C. No.1500 of 2020

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ORDER

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Dated this the 14^th day of October , 2020

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Petitioner is the accused in S.C.No.718 of 2013 pending on the files of the IVth Additional Sessions Court, Thrissur, which arose from Crime No.25 of 1999 of Kodungallur Police Station, registered for offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 323, 324, 307 r/w 149 of IPC. On filing of final report and committal, the case was numbered as SC No.79 of 2002 on the files of the Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court No.II, Adhoc), Thrissur. Pending trial of the case, the petitioner went abroad and failed to participate in the trial. As per Annexure B judgment, accused Nos.3 and 5 to 9 were acquitted after trial. The

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case against the first accused and the petitioner/fourth accused, who were absconding,

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Crl.M.C. No.1500 of 2020

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was split up and re-filed as S.C.No.954 of 2005.

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Later, the first accused appeared and the case against him was re-numbered as S.C.No.876 of 2010. By Annexure C judgment, the first accused was also

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acquitted after trial, finding that the prosecution failed to adduce any incriminating evidence to find the first accused guilty of the offences charged against him.

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2. The petitioner seeks to quash the case against him on the strength of the judgments of acquittal rendered in the case of the co-accused.

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For this purpose, reliance is placed on the decisions of this Court in Moosa v. Sub Inspector of Police [2006(1) KLT 550] and Ashraf Kancheriyil v. State of Kerala [2011 (2) KHC 86] .

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Perusal of the final report shows that the incident, which led to the registration of the crime, was a clash between the members of two

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Crl.M.C. No.1500 of 2020

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rival political parties. There are altogether 19 accused in the crime, of whom, all except the petitioner stands acquitted. Reading of Annexure B and C judgments reveals that the occurrence witnesses, including the injured, failed to identify the accused and that, as per the report of chemical analysis of the alleged weapons of offence, there was no trace of human blood in any of the weapons. As such, the substratum of the case stood shattered, resulting in the other accused being acquitted. In such circumstances, there is no possibility of the case against the petitioner ending in conviction. Therefore, continuance of the case would only result in valuable judicial time being wasted, and would be an abuse of process of court.

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In the result, the Crl.M.C is allowed. The proceedings in S.C.No.718 of 2013 pending on the

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Crl.M.C. No.1500 of 2020

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files of the IVth Additional Sessions Court,

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Thrissur, is quashed.

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sd/V.G.ARUN

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