THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Special judge of the CBI court here Johny Sebastian on Wednesday recused himself from hearing the Sister Abhaya case as he is listed as a witness in the charge sheet. The judge has handed over a letter to the High Court Registrar seeking to get the case transferred to the Ernakulam CBI court.
Earlier as Judicial First Class Magistrate Thoppumpady, Johny Sebastian had recorded the sworn statement of a witness, K C Thresiamma in December 2008. He has been listed as witness number 111 in the charge sheet.Thresiamma, the then head of Malayalam Department of BCM College, Kottayam, is listed as the 12th witness.
The judge’s recusal came at a time when he was considering a petition by action Council convener Jomon Puthenpurackal to arraign eight persons, including retired crime branch SP K T Michael, for destroying evidence.
The hearing on the petition was completed on July 26 and the judge is scheduled to pronounce the order on Thursday. The key accused in the case are Father Jose Poothrukayil, Father Thomas M Kottoor and Sister Stephy.