Radhamma vs State Of Kerala
2023 Latest Caselaw 9193 Ker

         IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                         PRESENT
     THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V
 WEDNESDAY, THE 23RD DAY OF AUGUST 2023 / 1ST BHADRA, 1945

                  CRL.MC NO. 6934 OF 2023
    AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT CC 102/2020 OF JUDICIAL
            MAGISTRATE OF FIRST CLASS, HARIPAD

PETITIONER/S:

          RADHAMMA
          AGED 69 YEARS
          W/O K. VASUDEVAN,
          HARIKRISHNA HOUSE, KUNNUMPURAM,
          DESOM (P. O) CHENGAMANAD VILLAGE,
          ERNAKULAM (DIST.),, PIN - 683102

          BY ADVS.
          ANIL K.MUHAMED
          KRISHNAKUMAR G.
          AJIN SALAM

RESPONDENT/S:

    1     STATE OF KERALA
          REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
          HIGH COURT OF KERALA, PIN - 682031

    2     RAVEENDRAN
          AGED 64 YEARS
          S/O KESAVAN,
          HOUSE NO. 16, ST. MARYS LINE,
          PALACE P.O., PATTOM,
          THIRUNAVANATHAPURAM (DIST.),, PIN - 695004


          SRI. NIMA JACOB, PP


     THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION
ON 23.08.2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE
FOLLOWING:
 CRL.MC NO. 6934 OF 2023

                                    2



                                 ORDER

The petitioner herein is the 3rd accused in C.C. No. 102/2020 on

the file of the Judicial Magistrate of the First Class-I, Harippad. She is

facing prosecution along with the two others for having committed

offenses punishable under Sections 341, 323, 324, 427, 447, 506(ii) r/w

Section 34 of the IPC.

2. The prosecution allegation is that on 13.07.2019, at about 11.00

a.m., the petitioner herein, along with other accused persons, in

furtherance of their common intention, wrongfully restrained the

informant and after assaulting him, committed mischief causing loss to

the tune of Rs. 10,000/-.

3. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that

the petitioner is innocent of all allegations. Reference is made to the

wound certificate, and it is submitted that the name of the petitioner is

not mentioned. It is also submitted that the statements of the witnesses

are in conflict to each other.

4. The learned Public Prosecutor has vehemently opposed the

submissions. It is submitted that a perusal of the final report would

disclose that a specific overt act has been alleged against the petitioner

herein. It is submitted that the materials collected by the prosecution CRL.MC NO. 6934 OF 2023

clearly substantiate the prosecution's allegations. It is further submitted

that this Court will not be justified in embarking upon an inquiry as to

whether the evidence in question is reliable or not or whether, on a

reasonable appreciation of it, the accusation would or would not be

sustained. According to the learned Public Prosecutor, this is not a fit

case wherein this Court will be justified in invoking the extraordinary

jurisdiction of this Court to short-circuit the prosecution.

5. I have considered the submissions advanced and have

carefully gone through the records.

6. It is well-settled by now that when a plea for quashing a

prosecution in its nascent stages is made, this Court is entrusted with the

responsibility of ascertaining whether the uncontested allegations

outlined in the complaint or the charge constitute an offense. In the

exercise of jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code, this Court is not

justified in minutely scrutinizing the materials that are yet to be

presented and evaluated in their proper context. Jurisdiction under the

provision must be exercised sparingly, reserving it for exceptional

circumstances, and should not be exercised to stifle a legitimate

prosecution. At this juncture, only a prima facie case ought to be

considered, in accordance with the legal principles enunciated by the

Supreme Court in landmark cases such as R.P. Kapur vs. State of CRL.MC NO. 6934 OF 2023

Punjab (AIR 1960 SC 866), State of Haryana vs. Bhajan Lal (1992

SCC (Cr) 426), State of Bihar vs. PP Sharma (1992 SCC (Cr.) 192),

Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. vs. Mohd. Saraful Haq and

another (2005 SCC (Cr.) 293), and more recently in Neeharika

Infrastructure Pvt Ltd v. State of Maharashtra and Others [2021

SCC Online SC 315].

7. Upon careful examination of the available materials and

evaluation of the records in the factual backdrop of the present case, I

am of the view that it would be premature to deduce that no offense has

been established against the petitioner at this stage. Upon perusal of the

entirety of the charge sheet, it becomes evident that specific allegations

have been leveled against the petitioner, invoking specific offenses under

the Indian Penal Code. The arguments put forth by the learned counsel

concerning purported contradictions in the witnesses' statements,

absence of serious injuries, the timeliness of the complaint, the presence

of the accused during the incident, and other related matters fall within

the domain of consideration by the Trial Court at the appropriate stage.

This Court is not justified in assessing the appropriateness, veracity, or

accuracy of the allegations mentioned in the charge at this juncture

based on the CD statements; rather, these aspects are to be deliberated

upon by the trial court at the opportune stage after evaluating the CRL.MC NO. 6934 OF 2023

evidence adduced before court. It would be prudent for this court to

abstain from expressing any opinion regarding the merits of the

allegations at this stage, so as to prevent any prejudice to either the

prosecution or the accused.

In that view of the matter, I hold that the petitioners have not

made out any case for intervention at this stage.

This petition is dismissed.

Sd/-

RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V JUDGE

avs CRL.MC NO. 6934 OF 2023

APPENDIX OF CRL.MC 6934/2023

PETITIONER ANNEXURES

Annexure1 A CERTIFIED COPY OF FINAL REPORT IN C.C.NO. 102 OF 2020 ON THE FILES OF JUDICIAL FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE-I COURT, HARIPAD, ALAPPUZHA (DIST.)

Annexure2 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF WOUND CERTIFICATE OF TALUK HOSPITAL HARIPAD

Annexure3 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE FIR & FIS IN CRIME NO.

1170/ 2019 OF HARIPAD POLICE STATION

Annexure4 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF STATEMENT OF CW 2

Annexure5 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF STATEMENT OF CW 3