Kerala High Court
Saji V.L vs State Of Kerala on 27 July, 2022
Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A.
WEDNESDAY, THE 27TH DAY OF JULY 2022 / 5TH SRAVANA, 1944
CRL.MC NO. 250 OF 2021
PETITIONER/SOLE ACCUSED:
SAJI V.L.,
AGED 44 YEARS,
S/O.VARGHESE, 'AISWARYA', MANNAKKALLU, NELLIMOODU P.
O., THIRUVANANTHAPURAM DISTRICT, PIN - 695 524.
BY ADVS.
DAISY A.PHILIPOSE
SRI.JAI GEORGE
RESPONDENT/STATE AND DE FACTO COMPLAINANT:
1 STATE OF KERALA,
REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,
HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM.
2 THE DIRECTOR OF PRINTING,
DIRECTORATE OF PRINTING, GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRESS,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695 001.
ADV. SREEJA V. -SR.PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
THIS CRIMINAL MISC. CASE HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
27.07.2022, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 2
ORDER
The petitioner is the sole accused in Annexure-A1 FIR, which is numbered as Crime No.791 of 2020 of Cantonment Police Station. The offences alleged against the petitioner are under Sections 409 and 420 of IPC and Section 65 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
2. The prosecution case is as follows:
The petitioner was working as a binder in Government Press, Thiruvananthapuram. While so, on the allegation of certain alleged malpractices, he was transferred. On 19.03.2020, the petitioner was transferred from the said Government Press and after his transfer, when the computer system and laptop which was used by the petitioner in his official capacity were examined, certain confidential files relating to the OMR sheets of Kerala Public Service Commission, were found deleted. Accordingly, a complaint was submitted by the 2nd respondent before the Station House Officer, Cantonment Police Station, and Annexure-A1 FIR was registered based on the said complaint against the petitioner. Subsequently, Annexure-A1 FIR was transferred to Cyber Crime Police Station and Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 3 Annexure-A2 FIR was registered by the said Police Station. This Crl.M.C. is filed for quashing Annexure-A1 and Annexure-A2 FIRs.
3. Heard Smt.Daisy A.Philipose, learned counsel for the petitioner and the Smt.Sreeja V., learned Public Prosecutor for the State.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner contends that no materials are available on record to establish any of the offences alleged against the petitioner. It is pointed out that, the basic allegation against the petitioner is the manipulation of the records relating to the OMR sheets of the Kerala Public Service Commission. My attention was brought to Annexure-A8 Press Release issued by the 2nd respondent and Annexure-A9 communication issued by the Secretary, Kerala Public Service Commission. Annexure-A8 is dated 12.08.2020 and Annexure-A9 is dated 26.06.2020. The aforesaid documents would reveal that, when the petitioner was working in Government Press, Thiruvananthapuram, the order for printing OMR sheets for the Public Service Commission was not placed with the Government Press. The decision in this regard was taken during the month of June, 2020, whereas, the petitioner was transferred from the Government Press, Thiruvananthapuram, as early as on 19.03.2020. Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 4 Therefore, it was contended that the allegation raised against the petitioner in the FIR is impossible to be true as far as the petitioner's role is concerned.
5. Earlier, when the matter came up for consideration before this Court, a submission was made on behalf of the learned Public Prosecutor to the effect that the Police are awaiting the FSL report of the Computer system in question, which is the crucial document for establishing the complicity of the petitioner. Accordingly, this Court passed an order on 29.03.2021 directing the authorities concerned to expedite the process and submit the FSL report before the jurisdictional court within one month. Even though the time stipulated by this Court was not followed, it is discernible that a report in this regard has already been submitted. The learned Public Prosecutor produced a copy of the Station House Officer, Cyber Police Station, which refers to the said FSL report. A perusal of the contents of the same would reveal that, the inspection so far conducted by the authorities concerned did not reveal any specific materials indicating the role of the petitioner herein. As per the averments in paragraph No.5 of the report, it is discernible that, in the inspection so far conducted, they could retrieve certain files which were found to be deleted from the computer and the deletion Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 5 of the said documents has taken place during the month of June 2020, which is after the transfer of the petitioner. It is also evident from the same that, even though the Investigating Officer has placed a request for certain documents from the Government Press, which are crucial for completing the investigation of the case, as of now, there is no proper response from the part of the Government Press. It is subsequently pointed out by the Station House Officer concerned that, in the absence of the aforesaid documents, the investigation could not be concluded.
6. On perusal of the entire materials placed before me, it is evident that, as of now, no evidence could be collected as against the petitioner herein. In the report, it is specifically mentioned that the aforesaid computer system was being used by several persons other than the petitioner. The documents which are produced by the petitioner in the form of Annexure-A8 and Annexure-A9 would indicate that the Public Service Commission placed the order for printing OMR sheets at the time when the petitioner was not on duty. When all these aspects are considered, it can be clearly seen that, as of now, no materials are available on record necessary for implicating the petitioner in the offence.
Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 6
7. The specific case of the petitioner is that the pendency of the investigation is causing prejudice to him as he is being denied service benefits, including the promotion. It is discernible from the records that even though FIR was registered as early as on 13.08.2020, even now, the investigation has not been completed. Certainly, since the petitioner is a person in service, it would cause serious prejudice to him. As mentioned above, despite all these measures, no evidence could be collected against the petitioner herein by the investigation team. In such circumstances, it is only proper that the investigating agency is directed to expeditiously complete the investigation within a time frame by submitting a final report. If they cannot collect any materials, they must submit a final report indicating the same by exonerating the petitioner. Under no circumstances should the investigation be prolonged. This is mainly because, on perusal of the case records, including the contents of the report submitted by the Station House Officer concerned before this court, I do not find any justifiable reason to prolong the investigation any further, as it would not serve in fruitful purpose. At the same time, the delay would cause prejudice to the petitioner. One of the main reasons which prompted this court to take such a view is that all the materials collected through Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 7 the investigation so far conducted do not even remotely indicate the complicity of the petitioner herein.
In such circumstances, even though I am not granting the prayer sought by the petitioner for quashing the FIR, I am inclined to dispose of this Crl.M.C. by directing the Station House Officer, Cyber Police Station, Thiruvananthapuram, to complete the investigation and submit a final report in the matter, within a period of one month from the date of production of a copy of this order, by taking note of the observations in this order.
Sd/-
ZIYAD RAHMAN A.A. JUDGE DG/29.7.22 Crl.M.C.No.250/2021 8 APPENDIX OF CRL.MC 250/2021 PETITIONER ANNEXURES ANNEXURE A1 A TRUE COPY OF THE FIRST INFORMATION REPORT IN CRIME NO.791 OF 2020 OF CANTONMENT POLICE STATION DATED 13.08.2020.
ANNEXURE A2 A TRUE COPY OF THE FIRST INFORMATION REPORT DATED 01.10.2020 IN CRIME NO.63 OF 2020 OF CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.
ANNEXURE A3 A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER
NO.1212/2020/E6/DP DATED 19.03.2020,
ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.
ANNEXURE A4 A TRUE COPY OF THE APPEAL DATED
20.03.2020, SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER
BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT.
ANNEXURE A5 A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER IN O.A.NO.739 OF
2020 DATED 03.06.2020.
ANNEXURE A6 A TRUE COPY OF G.O.(RT) NO.992/2020/H.EDN.
DATED 4.8.2020.
ANNEXURE A7 A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO.10001/2020/E3/
DP DATED 7.8.2020, ISSUED BY THE 2ND
RESPONDENT.
ANNEXURE A8 A TRUE COPY OF THE PRESS RELEASE
NO.12117/2020/G2/DP DATED 12.08.2020,
ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.
ANNEXURE A9 A TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 26.06.2020
ISSUED BY THE SECRETARY TO THE KERALA
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION TO THE 2ND
RESPONDENT.