The petitioner herein is the original 3rd accused in C.C No.43/2011 of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court I, Ettumanoor. Crime in the said case was registered under Sections 143, 147, 148, 323, 324, 452 and 294(b) r/w.149 of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of one Varghese. After investigation the police submitted final report in court under those sections. Pending the proceedings the accused No.11 died and thus the charge against him abated. The other accused except the petitioner herein faced trial before the learned Magistrate and obtained a judgment of acquittal under Section 248(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure when the material witnesses including the defacto complainant did not support the prosecution. The case against the petitioner herein was split up and refiled as C.C No.2141/2013. The petitioner now seeks orders under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure quashing the prosecution as against him on the ground that the very substratum of the case stands totally lost, and continuance of prosecution as against him will not serve any purpose.
Crl.M.C No.3767 of 2014 2 Annexure B judgment in C.C No.43/2011 shows that all the material witnesses including the defacto complainant turned hostile during trial in view of an amicable settlement made by the parties out of court. Of course they stated before the trial court that somebody assaulted them but they could not identify the assailants. In such a situation, I find that continuance of prosecution as against the petitioner herein will not serve any purpose other than wasting the precious time of the court. No doubt, the prosecution cannot in any manner improve the case as against him, and nobody will support the prosecution if the case against him goes to trial.
In the result, this Criminal Miscellaneous Case is allowed. The prosecution against the petitioner herein in C.C No.2141/2013 before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court I, Ettumanoor will stand quashed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Accordingly, the petitioner will stand released from prosecution, and the bail bond, if any, executed by him will stand discharged.
P.UBAID JUDGE ab