The petitioner herein is the original first accused in SC No.570 of 2009 of the Court of Sessions, Kollam. Crime in the said case was registered under Sections 323, 324, and 308 IPC, on the complaint of one Harikumar, that the petitioner and the other three accused assaulted him and inflicted injuries on his body with the knowledge of consequence that the injuries may cause the death. 2. The accused Nos. 2 to 4 faced trial before the learned Assistant Sessions Judge, Karunagappally, and obtained a judgment of acquittal on 13.11.2013 when all the material witnesses turned hostile to the prosecution. The case against the petitioner herein was split up and refiled when he remained absent throughout. Now it is pending as SC 1057 of 2013 before the same court.
3. The petitioner now seeks orders quashing the proceedings as against him on the ground that -2-
Crl.M.C. No. 5497 of 2014 prosecution against him in the above circumstance, will not serve any purpose.
4. Annexure-I Judgment in SC 570 of 2009 shows that the prosecution examined five witnesses in the case and marked Exts.P1 to P9 and also MO.1 and MO.2 material objects. The defacto complainant Harikumar was reported dead during trial. PW1 to PW3 examined by the prosecution as incident witnesses, did not, in any manner, support the prosecution. The other two witnesses are only police officers. PW1 to PW3 stated before the trial court that they had not in fact, witnessed the alleged incident. In the absence of any evidence or incriminating circumstance, the trial court acquitted the accused Nos. 2 to 4.
5. I find on a perusal of Annexure-I Judgment, that the prosecution cannot in any manner improve the case as against the petitioner herein, and the material witnesses also cannot in any manner support the prosecution, if the case against the petitioner goes to -3-
Crl.M.C. No. 5497 of 2014 trial. Thus practically, continuance of prosecution will be a sheer waste of time. In such a situation, the prosecution can well be quashed.
6. Moreover, I find that Section 308 IPC was in fact, incorporated in the proceedings on the basis of a purely hypothetical statement. Anyway, substratum of the prosecution case stands lost and so there is no meaning in continuing prosecution against the petitioner herein.
In the result, this petition is allowed. The prosecution against the petitioner in SC 1057 of 2013 before the learned Assistant Sessions Judge, Karunagappally will stand quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. Accordingly, the petitioner will stand released from prosecution. The bail bond, if any executed by him will stand discharged.
Sd/-
P.UBAID, JUDGE das