IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
Crl MC No. 1717 of 2007()
1. B.SURENDRA DAS, S/O LATE BHANU PANICKER,
... Petitioner
Vs
1. THE STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY
... Respondent
2. THE SUB INSPECTOR OF POLICE,
For Petitioner :SRI.K.B.PRADEEP
For Respondent :PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
The Hon'ble MR. Justice R.BASANT
Dated :12/06/2007
O R D E R
R. BASANT, J.
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CRL.M.C.NO. 1717 OF 2007
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Dated this the 12th day of June, 2007
ORDER
The petitioner is the 2nd accused in a prosecution under
Sec.56(b) of the Kerala Abkari Act. Altogether, there are
three accused persons. The 1st accused is alleged to be a
licensee and the 3rd accused is alleged to an employee of the
said toddy shop. There is an allegation that the petitioner has
taken over the shop of the 1st accused and is running the same
and the 3rd accused had committed the offence with the
knowledge and consent of the other accused. The petitioner
has come to this Court with a prayer that the powers under
Sec.482 of the Cr.P.C. may be invoked to prematurely
terminate the proceedings against the petitioner. The short
contention raised by him is that Sec.56 of the Abkari Act can
apply only to a licensee or an employee of the licensee. He is
neither. Hence the proceedings against him may be quashed,
CRL.M.C.NO. 1717 OF 2007 -: 2 :-
it is prayed.
2. Sec.56 of the Abkari Act is not confined in its operation
against the licensee. It takes in person being the employee of
such licensee and acting on his behalf. Whether the allegation
is acceptable or not is a totally different question. But at the
moment, it cannot be assumed that there are no allegations
against the petitioner to justify the charge under Sec.56(b) of the
Abkari Act. The prayer for quashing on that ground cannot, in
these circumstances, succeed.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner then submits that
no materials have been placed before the learned Magistrate in
the final report under Sec.173 of the Cr.P.C. and, in these
circumstances, it is prayed that the powers under Sec.482 of the
Cr.P.C. may be invoked.
4. The copy of the report under Sec.173 of the Cr.P.C. is
not placed before this Court. The materials available along with
the report under Sec.173 of the Cr.P.C. are not revealed to this
Court. At the moment, the allegations justify the raising of a
charge under Sec.56(b) of the Abkari Act. Whether there are
materials to proceed further or not will certainly have to be
considered by the learned Magistrate at the stage when the
CRL.M.C.NO. 1717 OF 2007 -: 3 :-
petitioner appears and the learned Magistrate thinks of reading
over the particulars of the offence to the petitioner.
5. If the learned Magistrate feels that there is no material
to justify further proceedings against the accused and no
offences are revealed particulars of which should be read over to
the accused, needless to say, the learned Magistrate can resort
to the powers under Sec.258 of the Cr.P.C. to bring about
premature termination of the proceedings.
6. This Crl.M.C. is, in these circumstances, dismissed; but
with the specific observation that the dismissal of this petition
will not in any way fetter the rights of the petitioner to claim
stopping of the proceedings under Sec.258 of the Cr.P.C.
(R. BASANT, JUDGE)
Nan/