Kerala High Court Dismisses MLA Ganesh Kumar's Plea To Quash Case For Alleged Conspiracy Against Deceased Former CM Oommen Chandy

The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed the plea filed by MLA K.B. Ganesh Kumar seeking to quash the case against him in connection with alleged conspiracy involved in naming late Congress leader and former Chief Minister of the State, Oommen Chandy, in the solar sexual assault case.The case is pending before court of Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFCM) at Kottarakkara,"Serious allegations are raised against the petitioner who is a Member of the Legislative Assembly by the 2nd respondent in which conspiracy is also alleged stating that the petitioner hatched a conspiracy with the 1st accused to implicate the former Chief Minister of Kerala Sri.Oommen Chandi. The former Chief Minister has passed away. Such an allegation should not be in the air because his soul will not forgive the same. The continuation of this case is necessary not only for the soul of the former Chief Minister and his bereaved family, but also to prove the integrity of the petitioner too, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan observed.The bench added that if such an allegation against the petitioner is incorrect, he can take appropriate steps for malicious prosecution against the 2nd respondent/ complainant. "Therefore, I am of the opinion that this case is to be proceeded and should arrive at a logical conclusion for the interest of the soul of the former Chief Minister and if the allegations are wrong, it will prove the integrity of the petitioner, who is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, a known politician."Factual BackgroundThe victim, who is also the 1st accused in the multi-crore solar panel scam, had accused several Congress leaders of the State, including former CM and late Congress Leader Oommen Chandy, MP Hibi Eden, AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, and others, of sexually exploiting her in the year 2012. Congress leader Adv Sudheer Jacob had filed a private complaint before the JFCM Court, Kottarakkara, alleging conspiracy to name Chandy in the solar sexual assault case, and another alleging offences punishable under Sections 120B, 192, 193, 182, 469, 471 r/w Section 34 IPC against the petitioner.The complainant averred that the 1st accused had written a letter, which was handed over to Advocate Phenny Balakrishnan, while in jail. The complainant submitted that the Superintendent of jail, Viswanatha Kurup, was also examined, and that the latter deposed before the Commission of Inquiry that had been set up to inquire into the Solar Scam, that the letter comprised only 21 pages. It was added that the 1st accused had also sent a complaint to Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ernakulam, which was in turn forwarded to the Station House Officer, Ernakulam North Police Station for investigation, and which did not contain any allegation against anybody. The complainant averred that the letter produced before the Commission subsequently, however had 25 pages, and also contained allegations against high dignitaries of sexually harassing the 1st accused and taking money from her. This was accepted by the Commission in evidence. While so, Adv. Balakrishnan disclosed in a press conference that the the letter produced by the 1st accused before the Commission of Inquiry was not the original letter, but was a false document, that had been fabricated at the instance of the 2nd accused, who is the present petitioner. The complainant alleged that the petitioner and the 1st accused had hatched a conspiracy to implicate the former Chief Minister and the other leaders, and that the Commission had wholly relied on this fabricated false document, and submitted certain recommendations to the Government in this regard. The Magistrate took cognizance of the same. It is on being aggrieved by the same that the present plea has been filed seeking quashment of the proceedigs. It was submitted by the counsel on behalf of the petitioner that even if the entire allegations in the private complaint are accepted in toto, no offence could be made out. It was submitted that, for taking cognizance of offences under Section 193 and 182, there is a bar under Section 195 Cr.P.C., and the Magistrate had accordingly, erred in taking cognizance of the offence. The counsel averred that the complainant's case was that the 1st accused had forged her own letter making it a 25 page letter, and added that even if the said contention was accepted, the offence of forgery could not be made out. Findings of the Court The Court at the outset opined that it would not be proper to accept the petitioner's contention that the 1st accused had made certain mistakes in her initial letter, for which the petitioner could not be held responsible, without hearing the 1st accused in the matter. The Court was thus of the view that the present plea was not maintainable on ground of not making the 1st accused a party to the same. "When a petition is filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C by one of the accused in a private complaint or one of the accused in a final report submitted by the police to ...

Kerala High Court Dismisses MLA Ganesh Kumar's Plea To Quash Case For Alleged Conspiracy Against Deceased Former CM Oommen Chandy

Navya Benny

Tags