Kerala High Court
M.K. Jayakrishnan vs Rajeevan P.V on 27 August, 2025
Author: V.G.Arun
Bench: V.G.Arun
Crl.M.C.No.3425/25
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2025:KER:66867
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V.G.ARUN
WEDNESDAY, THE 27TH DAY OF AUGUST 2025 / 5TH BHADRA, 1947
CRL.MC NO. 3425 OF 2025
AGAINST THE ORDER/JUDGMENT DATED 25.02.2025 IN CMP
NO.7306 OF 2024 OF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE OF FIRST CLASS -
IX, ERNAKULAM
PETITIONER:
M.K. JAYAKRISHNAN,
AGED 61 YEARS
S/O. LATE VASUDEVAN NAIR,
RESIDING AT 11/775, 50B SECTOR,
CHANDRANAGAR, SHYRADRI COLONY,
CHANDRANAGAR P.O.,
PALAKKAD, PIN - 678007
BY ADVS.
SRI.MATHEW KURIAKOSE
SRI.J.KRISHNAKUMAR (ADOOR)
SHRI.C.N.PRAKASH
SRI.T.G.SUNIL (PERUMBAVOOR)
SHRI.MONI GEORGE
SHRI.SHAJI P.K.
SHRI.ARUN KRISHNAN P.V.
Crl.M.C.No.3425/25
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RESPONDENTS:
1 RAJEEVAN P.V.,
AGED 51 YEARS
S/O. KRISHNAN NAIR,
RESIDING AT 10 D1,
MANJOORAN MOONSTONE APARTMENT, THAMMANAM ROAD,
PALARIVATTOM,
ERNAKULAM, KOCHI, PIN - 682025
2 VARGHESE,
FORMER C.P.O. OF PALARIVATTOM POLICE STATION,
ERNAKULAM, KOCHI, PIN - 682025
3 KALESAN,
FORMER S.I. OF PALARIVATTOM POLICE STATION,
ERNAKULAM, KOCHI, PIN - 682025
4 MANAF,
FORMER C.P.O. OF PALARIVATTOM POLICE STATION,
ERNAKULAM, KOCHI, PIN - 682025
5 PAREED KUNJU K.M.,
FORMER SUB INSPECTOR (GRADE), PEN -190020,
PALARIVATTOM POLICE STATION, ERNAKULAM, KOCHI,
PIN - 682025
6 PRINSUN PHILIP,
ADVOCATE, KUMARAN ARCADE, POWER HOUSE ROAD,
ERNAKULAM, KOCHI, PIN - 682018
7 STATE OF KERALA,
REPRESENTED BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF
KERALA, ERNAKULAM, PIN - 682031
Crl.M.C.No.3425/25
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BY ADVS.
SHRI.SHAJI T.M.
SRI.MANU TOM
SHRI.BALAMURALI K.P.
SHRI.RENIL IQUBAL K.
SHRI.AMAL C. PETER
OTHER PRESENT:
SRI. M.C. ASHI, SR.PP.
THIS CRIMINAL MISC.CASE HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON
20.08.2025, THE COURT ON 27.08.2025 PASSED THE FOLLOWING:
Crl.M.C.No.3425/25
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V.G.ARUN, J
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Crl.M.C.No.3425 of 2025
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Dated this the 27th day of August, 2025
ORDER
The petitioner is the complainant in C.M.P.No.7306 of 2024 pending on the files of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-IX, Ernakulam. The allegations in the complaint are to the following effect;
The complainant is an acclaimed Scientist with many inventions to his credit. The 1st accused, a builder, befriended the complainant and offered help in publishing and marketing those inventions. Although the complainant accepted the offer, no amount was spent by the 1st accused in connection with the invention or publication of the invented products. Instead, claiming that he had expended huge amounts and to coerce the complainant into meeting his illegal demand, the 1 st accused filed Annexure A1 complaint raising false and frivolous Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 5 2025:KER:66867 allegations. Based on the complaint, the Palarivattom Police registered a crime and under the guise of investigation, respondents 2 to 4, officers at the Palarivattom Police Station, forcibly brought down the petitioner, his wife and daughter from Palakkad and at the Police Station, compelled the petitioner to execute the documents styled as Technology Share Agreements. The next day, the officers took the petitioner and his wife to their bank in Palakkad and forced the petitioner's wife to issue cheques for Rs.3.5 crores, along with a request letter to transfer that amount to the account of the 1 st accused. Although petitioner submitted complaints to the SHO, Palarivattom Police Station and Commissioner of Police, Kochi City, no action was taken. Hence, Annexure A complaint was submitted before the jurisdictional Magistrate Court, with a prayer to forward the complaint for investigation to the Commissioner of Police, Kochi City or to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ernakulam Sub Division, or take appropriate other actions on the complaint and proceed against Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 6 2025:KER:66867 the accused as per law. The Magistrate, after calling for reports from the Station House Officer, as mandated under Sections 175(3) and 175(4) of the BNSS, passed the impugned Annexure A33 order, deciding to proceed under Section 223 BNSS. Aggrieved, this Crl.M.C is filed.
2. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that, in order to substantiate the allegations in the complaint, recovery of the CCTV footages from the Palarivattom Police Station, the Call Data Records of the accused along with the tower locations and the forged documents are highly essential. Hence, the Magistrate should have ordered investigation by the Police, rather than deciding to conduct enquiry under Section 223 of BNSS.
3. Learned counsel for the party respondents submitted that the allegations are false and Annexure A complaint is filed as a counterblast to Annexure A1 complaint of the 1 st respondent, based on which Annexure A2 crime is registered against the petitioner, his wife and daughter. It is pointed out Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 7 2025:KER:66867 that, even though the incident is alleged to have occurred on 12th and 13th of July, 2023, Annexure A complaint is filed only on 01.11.2024. Even then the learned Magistrate called for reports under Sections 175(3) and 175(4) of BNSS and only after perusing those reports, decided to proceed under Section 223 BNSS. The procedure adopted by the Magistrate cannot therefore be faulted. To buttress the argument, reliance is placed on the decision in Gopakumar v. State of Kerala [2025 KHC OnLine 1892], wherein this Court held that the discretion of the Magistrate to decide between enquiry and police investigation cannot be interfered, unless the decision is absurd or patently illegal.
4. I heard the learned Public Prosecutor also.
5. Although learned counsel for the petitioner submitted with vehemence that the 1st accused, his lawyer and the police had conspired and forced the petitioner and his wife to transfer huge amounts to the account of the 1st accused, the genuineness or otherwise of the allegation cannot be decided in Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 8 2025:KER:66867 a proceeding under Section 528 of BNSS. Likewise, the factual contentions raised by the learned counsel for the party respondents cannot also be decided in this proceeding.
6. The only question arising for consideration here is whether Annexure A33 order is bad for procedural irregularity. There is no dispute to the fact that the learned Magistrate had initially called for a report from the Station House Officer, as mandated in Section 175(3) BNSS. In response, the SHO filed Annexure A31 report stating that the allegations are false and the parties had already approached the Commercial Court as well as the High Court for resolving the monetary dispute. As some of the accused are Police Officers, the learned Magistrate called for a second report, this time under Section 175(4) BNSS. Again, an adverse report was submitted stating the allegations to be false. After receipt of the 2 nd report, the Magistrate decided to conduct enquiry under Section 223. Thus, the Magistrate had acted in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Section 175 BNSS. The impugned Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 9 2025:KER:66867 order also reveals that it was passed after due application of mind. It is settled law that the option, whether to refer the complaint to the police for investigation under Section 175(3) before cognisance or under Section 223 after cognisance, is to be exercised by the Magistrate. Being so, this Court cannot interfere and compel the Magistrate to refer the complaint for investigation under Section 175(3).
For the aforementioned reasons, the Crl.M.C is dismissed.
sd/-
V.G.ARUN, JUDGE sj Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 10 2025:KER:66867 APPENDIX OF CRL.MC 3425/2025 PETITIONER ANNEXURES Annexure A TRUE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT IN C.M.P. NO. 7306/2024 ON THE FILES OF THE JUDICIAL FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE COURT - IX, ERNAKULAM Annexure A1 TRUE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT DATED 29.5.2023 (CMP 1815/2023) FILED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT BEFORE THE JFCM COURT - IX, ERNAKULAM ALONG WITH ITS TYPED LEGIBLE COPY Annexure A2 TRUE COPY OF THE FIR IN CRIME NO.
1138/2023 OF PALARIVATTOM POLICE
STATION
Annexure A3 17. TRUE COPY OF THE CHEQUE NO. 914224 DATED 12.07.2023 DRAWN ON ESAF BANK, ISSUED BY THE COMPLAINANT'S WIFE FROM THE JOINT ACCOUNT OF THE COMPLAINANT AND HIS WIFE BEARING NO. 50170024021023 TO THE 1ST ACCUSED FOR AN AMOUNT OF RS.
50,00,000/- (FIFTY LAKHS ONLY) ALONG WITH THE TRANSFER SLIP DATED 13.07.2023 Annexure A4 TRUE COPY OF THE CHEQUE NO 914225 DATED 12.07.2023 DRAWN ON ESAF BANK, ISSUED BY THE COMPLAINANT'S WIFE FROM THE JOINT ACCOUNT OF THE COMPLAINANT AND HIS WIFE BEARING NO. 50170024021023 TO THE 1ST ACCUSED FOR AN AMOUNT OF RS:
50,00,000/- (FIFTY LAKHS ONLY) ALONG WITH THE TRANSFER SLIP DATED 13.07.2023 Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 11 2025:KER:66867 Annexure A5 18. TRUE COPY OF THE CHEQUE NO. 914226 DATED 12.07.2023 DRAWN ON ESAF BANK, ISSUED BY THE COMPLAINANT'S WIFE FROM THE JOINT ACCOUNT OF THE COMPLAINANT AND HIS WIFE BEARING NO. 50170024021023 TO THE 1ST ACCUSED FOR AN AMOUNT OF RS. 50,00,000/- (FIFTY LAKHS ONLY) ALONG WITH THE TRANSFER SLIP DATED 13.07.2023 Annexure A6 TRUE COPY OF THE CHEQUE NO. 914227 DATED 12.07.2023 DRAWN ON ESAF BANK, ISSUED BY THE COMPLAINANT'S WIFE FROM THE JOINT ACCOUNT OF THE COMPLAINANT AND HIS WIFE BEARING NO. 50170024021023 TO THE 1ST ACCUSED FOR AN AMOUNT OF RS. 50,00,000/- (FIFTY LAKHS ONLY) ALONG WITH THE TRANSFER SLIP DATED 13.07.2023 Annexure A 7 19. TRUE COPY OF THE CHEQUE NO. 914228 DATED 12.07.2023 DRAWN ON ESAF BANK, ISSUED BY THE COMPLAINANT'S WIFE FROM THE JOINT ACCOUNT OF THE COMPLAINANT AND HIS WIFE BEARING NO. 50170024021023 TO THE 1ST ACCUSED FOR AN AMOUNT OF RS. 50,00,000/- (FIFTY LAKHS ONLY) ALONG WITH THE TRANSFER SLIP DATED 13.07.2023 Annexure A8 TRUE COPY OF THE CHEQUE NO. 914229 DATED 12.07.2023 DRAWN ON ESAF BANK ISSUED BY THE COMPLAINANT'S WIFE FROM THE JOINT ACCOUNT OF THE COMPLAINANT AND HIS WIFE BEARING NO. 50170024021023 TO THE 1ST ACCUSED FOR AN AMOUNT OF RS. 50,00,000/- (FIFTY LAKHS ONLY) ALONG WITH THE TRANSFER SLIP DATED 13.07.2023 Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 12 2025:KER:66867 Annexure A9 TRUE COPY OF THE CHEQUE NO. 914230 DATED 12.07.2023 DRAWN ON ESAF BANK, ISSUED BY THE COMPLAINANT'S WIFE FROM THE JOINT ACCOUNT OF THE COMPLAINANT AND HIS WIFE BEARING NO. 50170024021023 TO THE 1ST ACCUSED FOR AN AMOUNT OF RS. 50,00,000/- (FIFTY LAKHS ONLY) ALONG WITH THE TRANSFER SLIP DATED 13.07.2023 Annexure A10 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 25.08.2023 IN CRL M.C. NO. 6050/2023 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure A11 TRUE COPY OF THE ARBITRATION REQUEST NO. 16/2024 FILED ON 22.1.2024 BY THE 1ST ACCUSED BEFORE THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure A12 TRUE COPY OF THE FORGED TECHNOLOGY SHARE AGREEMENT DATED 12.07.2023 Annexure A13 TRUE COPY OF THE FORGED AGREEMENT (2ND AGREEMENT) DATED 12.07.2023 Annexure A14 TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DATED 23.05.2024 ISSUED BY NOTARY ADV. SOJAN MATHEW Annexure A15 TRUE COPY OF THE ENTRIES IN THE NOTARIAL REGISTER OF NOTAY ADV. SOJAN MATHEW AS ON13.07.2023 Annexure A16 TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DATED 04.04.2024 ISSUED BY ADV. V. V. SURESH, NOTARY. (MONTH OF ISSUING THE CERTIFICATE IS OMITTED TO BE MENTIONED THEREIN) Annexure A17 TRUE COPY OF THE FORGED DOCUMENT STYLED AS COPY OF AN ADVERTISEMENT (ALLEGEDLY) PUBLISHED IN ‘CHEMICAL WEEKLY' AND PRODUCED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT BEFORE THE COURTS AS IF GENUINE DOCUMENT Annexure A18 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 02.07.2024 IN A.R. NO. 16/2024 OF THE HON'BLE HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 13 2025:KER:66867 Annexure A19 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 15.02.2024 IN ARB. A. NO.11/2024 OF THIS HON'BLE COUR Annexure A20 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 25.3.2024 IN R.P NO.329/2024 IN ARBITRATION APPEAL NO. 11/2024 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure A21 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 09.07.2024 IN I.A NO. 11/2024 IN CMA (ARB) NO.
27/2024 OF THE COMMERCIAL COURT - II, ERNAKULAM Annexure A22 TRUE COPY OF THE COUNTER AFFIDAVIT FILED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT IN A.R. NO. 16/2024 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure A23 TRUE COPY OF THE I.A. NO. 1/2024 IN A.R. NO. 16/2024 Annexure A24 TRUE COPY OF THE I.A. NO. 2/2024 IN A.R. NO. 16/2024 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure A25 TRUE COPY OF THE I.A. NO. 3/2024 IN A.R. NO. 16/2024 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure A26 TRUE COPY OF THE REPLY AFFIDAVIT IN A.R. NO. 16/2024 ON THE FILES OF THIS HON'BLE COURT Annexure A27 TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION IN CMA (ARB) NO. NO. 27/2024 OF THE COMMERCIAL COURT - II, ERNAKULAM Annexure A28 TRUE COPY OF THE COPY OF THE EMAIL AND THE COMPLAINT DATED 18.10.2024 FORWARDED TO THE SHO PALARIVATTOM POLICE STATION BY THE PETITIONER Annexure A29 TRUE COPY OF THE COPY OF THE COMPLAINT DATED 22.10.2024 FORWARDED TO THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, KOCHI CITY BY THE COMPLAINANT WITH ITS POSTAL RECEIPT AND POSTAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT CARD Crl.M.C.No.3425/25 14 2025:KER:66867 Annexure A30 TRUE COPY OF THE AFFIDAVIT OF THE COMPLAINT IN C.M.P. NO. 7306/2024 ON THE FILES OF THE JUDICIAL FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE COURT - IX, ERNAKULAM Annexure A31 TRUE COPY OF THE PRELIMINARY REPORT DATED 25.11.2024 FILED BY THE STATION HOUSE OFFICER, PALARIVATTOM POLICE STATION IN C.M.P. NO. 7306/2024 ON THE FILES OF THE JUDICIAL FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE COURT - IX, ERNAKULAM Annexure A32 TRUE COPY OF THE REPORT DATED 06.02.2025 FILED BY THE STATION HOUSE OFFICER, PALARIVATTOM POLICE STATION IN C.M.P. NO. 7306/2024 ON THE FILES OF THE JUDICIAL FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE COURT - IX, ERNAKULAM Annexure A33 CERTIFIED COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 25.02.2025 IN C.M.P. NO. 7306/2024 ON THE FILES OF THE JUDICIAL FIRST CLASS MAGISTRATE COURT - IX, ERNAKULAM