Kerala High Court to wait for police report before deciding on action against judge whose son killed scooterist

The family of the 55-year-old man, who died recently after a Mercedez-Benz car driven by the minor son of an additional sessions judge hit his scooter, has submitted a complaint before the Kerala High Court Chief Justice seeking an enquiry into the judicial officer's conduct.

The judicial officer, who is serving as a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal judge in Iranjalakuda, has already been arraigned as an accused by the police under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act since he is the registered owner of the car which caused the accident.

Sources told Bar & Bench that the High Court's Administrative Committee held a preliminary meeting on October 27 to examine the material concerning the accident.

Since the police investigation is still underway, the committee decided not to take any action against the judicial officer at present and await further material from the investigation agency.

The committee comprises Chief Justice Soumen Sen and five of the senior-most judges of the High Court.

The complaint submitted by the victim's children requests the Chief Justice to examine whether an administrative or disciplinary enquiry is warranted against the judicial officer.

They have requested the Chief Justice to seek reports from the competent authority with regard to the registration and progress of the criminal case, particularly on the invocation of Section 199A of the MV Act.

Section 199A provides that when a minor commits a motor vehicle offence, the guardian or vehicle owner is presumed to be responsible and can be prosecuted and punished, subject to statutory exceptions.

They have further sought measures to safeguard the independence and impartiality of the investigation, the preservation of relevant CCTV footage from Cheranalloor Police Station and an objective examination of the allegations against the judicial officer.

The family of the victim was informed that their complaint has been placed before the appropriate administrative authority.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Cheranalloor police, the victim identified as Jayabalakrishnan (55), was returning home after closing his roadside eatery when the accident occurred around 2:20 AM on Sunday morning.

The car driven by the 17-year-old boy was travelling from Vallarpadam towards Kalamassery when it allegedly hit the scooter near a Ford showroom on Container Road.

Police initially registered the case under Sections 281 and 106 (1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for the offence of rash driving and causing death by negligence respectively.

Section 105 of the BNS, dealing with culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, was subsequently added.

The minor was later taken into custody and produced before the Juvenile Justice board which granted him bail on Monday. State's plea seeking cancellation of the bail is pending before a sessions court.

Meanwhile, the Kochi City Police Commissioner has been removed from the post following the allegations of lapses in the handling of the accident case. R Nishanthini IPS has been appointed as the new Commissioner.