Kerala High Court grants interim protection to judge in son’s fatal crash case

The Kerala High Court stayed the arrest of an Additional District Judge booked in a fatal road accident case involving his 17-year-old son. The court directed him to appear before the investigating officer and sought the state’s response to his anticipatory bail plea

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed the arrest of an Additional District Judge booked as the second accused in the Cheranelloor road accident case, in which his 17-year-old son allegedly drove a Mercedes-Benz car that killed a scooter rider.

Justice Kauser Edappagath passed the interim order on an anticipatory bail petition filed by the judge, who is posted at the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Irinjalakuda, Thrissur district.

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The court directed the police not to arrest the judge until further orders and asked him to appear before the investigating officer.

It also directed that his interrogation be conducted in accordance with Supreme Court guidelines.

Questioning the need for custodial interrogation, the court asked the investigating team why the judge needed to be arrested when he was cooperating with the probe.

“What was the need to interrogate him for four hours, and now for further interrogation? Why is his arrest required? He is a judicial officer. He will cooperate with the investigation,” the court observed.

Senior advocate P Vijaya Bhanu, appearing for the judge, told the court that his client had appeared before the police on Wednesday and had been questioned for over four hours.

However, counsel representing the victim’s legal heirs opposed the plea, alleging that the judge had tampered with evidence after being informed of the accident.

The court said it had to proceed strictly in accordance with the law while granting interim protection from arrest.

It also sought the state’s response to the plea.

The accident occurred around 2.20 am on October 25 on Container Road at Cheranelloor, near Kochi, when the Mercedes-Benz allegedly driven by the teenager rammed into a scooter ridden by Jayabalakrishnan, 55, who died at the spot.

In his petition, the judge claimed that he was asleep at home and did not know that the car had been taken out.

He said he learnt of the incident only after receiving a telephone call informing him that his minor son had taken the vehicle without his knowledge and met with the accident.

The FIR invokes Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which relates to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, including Section 199A, which deals with offences committed by juveniles and the liability of guardians or vehicle owners.

The Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the boy on October 26.

The state government’s plea seeking cancellation of his bail is pending before a sessions court.