In a major blow to Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan in the ice cream parlour case, the Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by him seeking CBI probe into the alleged sabotage of the case in which minister P K Kunhalikutty is allegedly involved.
Adding insult to injury, a single judge of the High Court dismissed another petition filed by Achuthanandan and directed him to appear in person before the Thiruvananthapuram Judicial First Class Magistrate Court III on September 30 in a defamation case.
Dismissing the plea for CBI probe in the ice cream parlour case sabotage, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran observed that the plea for CBI probe was made on the grounds of laxity in investigation carried out by Special Investigation Team, and such an attack comes to an end with the filing of the final report.
The bench held that it was the magistrate considering a final report who has the authority to order further investigation. The power vested with the magistrate is under a statute and this was not a right conferred either on the complainant nor on the accused, or third parties to seek further investigation. “If the bench interferes now, it is nothing but upsetting the hierarchy of judicial forums as prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure”, it added.
The case was registered based on the allegations and disclosures by K A Rauf at a press conference on January 28, 2011 that the minister P K Kunhalikutty had asked several key witnesses to turn hostile, on promise of pecuniary benefits. Kunhalikutty and Rauf had allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with several others for excluding the former from the ice cream parlour case registered at Nadakkavu police station in Kozhikode. The duo had allegedly undermined the process of investigation as well as the trial by influencing the witnesses as well as the judiciary, the petitioner said.
The probe was ordered by the previous LDF government headed by V S Achuthanandan following fresh allegations made by K A Rauf. The same SIT was continued by the present government after it came into power, advocate general K P Dandapani submitted. The present attempt of the petitioner is to persuade the court into usurp the jurisdiction of the Magistrate Court, the AG submitted.
The Bench pointed out that it has to scan through the material available in the case diary and FIR, if the court will consider ordering a fresh probe. “It was nothing but usurping the power of the magistrate. This results in preempting the competent court from exercising its jurisdiction, which in any event the Supreme Court had discouraged and the courts monitoring investigation have been cautioned against, on more than one occasion” the bench said.
VS to move SC for CBI probe
Achuthanandan said that he would move the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the ice cream parlour case in view of the High Court’s rejection of his petition on Friday. The High Court Division Bench had observed that though it was rejecting the demand for a CBI probe, the matters submitted in the petition were of serious nature. The Division Bench had also observed that the petitioner could move the Magistrate court in Kozhikode. But the Magistrate court has no powers to order a CBI probe. In view of this, Achuthanandan said that he would move the Supreme court, according to a release.
