High Court disposed of a plea under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking quashing of charges. Instead, the Court directed the trial magistrate to split the case for petitioner and other accused, completing the trial within three months due to long pendency.
Directing trial Magistrate to split case and complete trial within three months.
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.
Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 08.12.2023
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE K.K. RAMAKRISHNAN
Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020 and
Crl.M.P(MD)No.2465 of 2020
Ramachandran @ Ayyappan .. Petitioner/Accused No.1 Vs. 1. State rep. by, The Inspector of Police, Central Crime Station, Kanyakumari District. (in Crime No.551 of 2008) .. 1st Respondent/Complainant 2. Amko Jamboard .. 2nd Respondent/ Defacto Complainant
PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition has been filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C., to call for the records pertaining to the Charge Sheet in C.C.No.304 of 2018 on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate No.II, Nagercoil in Crime No.551 of 2008 on the file of the 1st Respondent Police u/s.392 of IPC dated 14.11.2008 and quash the same in respect of the petitioner as
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Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020
illegal.
For Petitioner : Mr.G.Anto Prince For Respondents : Mr.M.Muthumanikkam Government Advocate(Crl.Side) for R1 : Mr.S.Sureshkumar for R2
ORDER
The petitioner is the first accused in Crime No.551 of 2008 filed this petition before this Court to quash the Charge Sheet in C.C.No.304 of 2018 on the file of the learned Judicial Magistrate No.II, Nagercoil.
2. During the course of hearing, it is brought to the knowledge of this Court that among the three accused in this case, one of the accused is not available in India. Further, in view of the pendency of the case from 2008 onwards, the learned counsel for the petitioner made a submission to direct the learned trial Judge to expedite the trial and also he seeks permission to raise all the points before the trial Court.
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Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020
3. In view of the specific plea made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and also considering the fact that the crime number is pending from the year 2008 onwards, this Court called for report from the learned Judicial Magistrate No.II, Nagercoil. The learned Magistrate also submitted a report stating that one of the accused has not been appeared regularly and the service of summons also pending against him. Earlier NBW was issued and the same was recalled. Thereafter, the case was transferred to the learned Judicial Magistrate No.II, Nagercoil and again summons are served.
4. From the report, it is clear that the petitioner herein is continuously
appearing before the Court below from 28.10.2013 onwards. Hence, this Court is inclined to accept the request of the petitioner.
5. Accordingly, this Criminal Original Petition is disposed of with the following directions:
“The learned Judicial Magistrate No.II, Nagercoil, is
hereby directed to split up the case in C.C.No.304 of 2018 as
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Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020
against the petitioner and the other remaining available accused and conduct the trial and complete the same within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order by following the procedure stated in the Criminal Rules of Practice.”
Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
08.12.2023
NCC:Yes/No Index:Yes/No Internet:Yes/No PJL
To
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Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020
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Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020
K.K.RAMAKRISHNAN,J.
PJL
Crl.O.P(MD)No.4373 of 2020 and Crl.M.P(MD)No.2465 of 2020
08.12.2023
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3 issues framed by the court
Whether the trial should be expedited and split for the petitioner given pending charges for over a decade.
Whether directions should be issued to the trial court to complete the split trial within a specific timeframe.
Whether the Criminal Original Petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. should be disposed of by issuing trial completion directions.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Ramachandran @ Ayyappan
State rep. by, The Inspector of Police, Central Crime Station, Kanyakumari District
Amko Jamboard
K.K. Ramakrishnan
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
