Kerala High Court quashes case against man who impersonated police officer to enter Sreesanth's house

The Kerala High Court recently quashed criminal proceedings against a man who allegedly impersonated a police officer and entered the residence of cricketer S Sreesanth [Nilesh Ramachandra Japthap v. State of Kerala & Anr.]..Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas passed the order quashing the case against the man, one Nilesh Ramachandra Japthap..Japthap, who hails from Mumbai, was accused of telling the security guard at Sreethanth's house that he was from the Mumbai Police to enter the cricketer's house. Once he was allowed in, he allegedly told Sreesanth's parents that he was a staff member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)Consequently, he was accused of committing the offence under Section 419 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which prescribes the punishment for cheating by impersonation.Japthap approached the High Court to quash the proceedings against him..The Court observed that mere impersonation does not qualify as an offence under Section 419 but that it must be accompanied by cheating as defined under Section 415 of the IPC."The offence of cheating by impersonation occurs only when, due to the impersonation, some damage or harm to body, mind, reputation, or property takes place or is likely to take place. In other words, the accused must have, by the act of impersonation, obtained some property or induced the aggrieved to do or omit to do something that would have caused damage or harm to his mind, body, reputation, or property," the Court explained..It noted from the final report that there was no allegation that Japthap caused or was likely to have caused any harm to the security guard. Therefore, it quashed the proceedings against Japthap. .Japthap was represented by advocates Dheeraj Krishnan Perot, Vineetha AA, Sreerag S, Arya Devasia, Megha, and Sreepriya KU. .[Read Order]