The High Court of Kerala quashed proceedings under Section 107 Cr.P.C initiated by the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kollam, for maintaining peace. The Court held that the order failed to specify the substantive act leading to threat, relying on Santhosh.
Proceedings of the Sub Divisional Magistrate in M.C No.17/2018 were 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 ASHOK MENON
THURSDAY, THE 12TH DAY OF MARCH 2020 / 22ND PHALGUNA, 1941
Crl.MC.No.387 OF 2020(G)
AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT IN MC 17/2018 OF SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE,KOLLAM
CRIME NO.2605/2017 OF Kundara Police Station , Kollam
PETITIONER/COUNTER PETITIONER:
SOJAN
AGED 31 YEARS S/O PASTERMARK THOMAS, SUVISESHA BHAVANAM, NEAR NSS SCHOOL, PERAYAM, MLAVANA, KUNDARA, KOLLAM, PIN-691 501.
BY ADVS. SRI.PRATHEESH.P SMT.S.SEETHA SMT.ANJANA KANNATH
RESPONDENTS/STATE:
1 STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM, PIN-682 031.
3 SUB INSPECTOR OF POLICE, KUNDARA POLICE STATION, KOLLAM, PIN-691 501.
SRI. C.S. HRITHWIK SR. PP
THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 12.03.2020, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
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Crl.MC.No.387 OF 2020(G)
ORDER
Dated this the 12th day of March 2020
The petitioner is the counter petitioner in M.C No.17/2018 of Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kollam. He was directed to execute a bond under
Section 107 Cr.P.C by the Sub Divisional Magistrate on 08.06.2018 for keeping peace and public tranquility for a period of one year from
the date of execution of the bond with two sureties for Rs.20,000/- each.
The order has therefore become infructuous, and is not executable. Further it is also to be observed
that the petitioner was allegedly involved in several crimes and is referred in the order of the Sub Divisional Magistrate. But referring to the report of the Sub Inspector of Police, Kundara Police Station, the Sub Divisional Magistrate has
Crl.MC.No.387 OF 2020(G)
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stated that, the petitioner is indulging in criminal activities frequently and causing threat to public tranquility. But the specific last instance which actually lead to his act of threat to public tranquility is not described or the substance stated in the impugned order. The mere fact that there were a number of cases pending, the specific act has to be mentioned in the order. It is also stated that the pendency of several crimes against the petitioner indicates that he is of aggressive nature but as pointed out in several decisions of this Court including Santhosh v. State of Kerala [2014(3) KLT 837], the reasons leading to the imminent breach of peace has to be specified in the order of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, which definitely has not been stated in Annexure-I order. The last crime mentioned
therein is in 2017, it is not known why after more than a year has elapsed on registering of the FIR,
Crl.MC.No.387 OF 2020(G)
no action was taken. It is also pertinent to note
that the FIR was registered under Section 107 Cr.P.C, which is not a cognizable offence. Even that FIR has been registered only in the year 2017.
Under the circumstances, I find that the proceedings of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kollam in MC No.17/2018 is quashed under Section
482 Cr.P.C.
Sd/-
ASHOK MENON
JUDGE
spk
Crl.MC.No.387 OF 2020(G)
5
APPENDIX
PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:
ANNEXURE A1 A TRUE COPY OF THE PRELIMINARY ORDER IN MC NO 17/2018 OF SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE, KOLLAM DATED NIL
ANNEXURE 2 THE TRUE COPY OF JUDGMENT PASSED BY THIS HON'BLE COURT CRL.MC NO 4086/2018 DATED 6.7.2018
ANNEXURE 3 TRUE COPY OF THE FIR IN CRIME NO 2605/2017 OF KUNDARA POLICE STATION
ANNEXURE 4 TRUE COPY OF THE SERVICE ORDER NO 18/19 DATED 20.2.2019
RESPONDENT'S/S EXHIBITS: NIL
//TRUE COPY//
PA TO JUDGE
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the proceedings under Section 107 Cr.P.C are liable to be quashed for lack of specific reason for apprehended breach of peace.
Whether the order of the Sub Divisional Magistrate satisfies the requirement of specifying the substance of the threat to public tranquility.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Santhosh v. State of KeralaExplained¶28
Santhosh v. State of Kerala [2014(3) KLT 837]
2 provisions across 1 enactments
Sojan
State of Kerala
Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kollam
Sub Inspector of Police, Kundara
Ashok Menon
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
Ashok Menon
Parties & counsel
