KOCHI: In a rare occurrence, a witness in the Pantheerankavu Maoist case trial was examined by court at his home in Kannur. Govindan, 85, the 56th witness, was questioned on October 10. Govindan, a key witness of the National Investigation Agency, had conveyed his inability to travel to Kochi for the trial due to age-related ailments.
Consequently, senior public prosecutor Arjun Ambalapatta requested the NIA court to invoke a provision under Section 284 of CrPC to examine the witness outside court. The court consented to and appointed a commission under a first-class judicial magistrate in Kannur to examine Govindan as a witness at his residence.
“As part of the examination, the prosecution team, including NIA officers, staff of the NIA court, defence counsels and two prime accused, Alan Suhaib and Thwaha Fazal, who are on bail, reached the residence of Govindan. Moreover, an arrangement was made for co-accused Melethil Usman and Vijith Vijayan, who are currently in jail, to attend the proceeding by videoconference,” a defence lawyer said.
The key NIA witness was slated to testify that first accused Alan knew Usman and Vijith. The NIA said as an LLB student, Alan rented Govindan’s home, and that Usman and Vijith visited him there.
