Kochi: A 55-year-old man died on a Sunday morning on Container Road. His family now has an order it did not want.
The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed police not to arrest an Additional District and Sessions Judge who has been named as an accused in the case, while hearing his anticipatory bail plea. Justice Kauser Edappagath also directed the judge to cooperate with the investigation.
Jayabalakrishnan, a resident of South Chittoor who ran a roadside eatery, was returning home on his scooter in the early hours of Sunday when a Mercedes-Benz, allegedly speeding, hit him at Marapparambu in Cheranalloor, according to police. The car was registered in the judge's name. The judge's 17-year-old son was driving, police have indicated.
Police first registered a case under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for causing death by negligence, and the minor was released on bail from the police station on Sunday evening. The decision drew protests outside Cheranalloor police station, with the deceased's son and daughter and activists demanding that the accused be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board. Senior officers intervened, and after a preliminary investigation police invoked Section 105 of the BNS, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The Juvenile Justice Board later granted bail to the minor, and police named his father as an accused.
The judge was questioned on Wednesday and was to be questioned again on Thursday afternoon, police told PTI. He then moved the High Court.
"We are definitely disappointed, but we respect the High Court's decision. We will discuss with our lawyer and decide on the next course of action. We intend to pursue the matter legally and will not take even a single step backwards. We will continue to fight," Jayabalakrishnan's daughter Bhadrakeerthi told reporters.
The family has filed a petition seeking to be included in the proceedings, which the court said it will consider later.
The case turns on two questions that will be argued for months: what speed the car was doing on a road where a man was riding home, and who was answerable for it. The minor's age puts him before the Juvenile Justice Board, while his father's alleged role as the registered owner and an accused is now before the High Court.