P. K. ABDUL SATHAR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) At daybreak, about 3:30 AM, on 22/10/2006 at the J.T.road, Thalasseri, P.K.Fasalu @ Muhammad Fazal, a distributor of 'Thejus' newspaper, was allegedly hacked by his arch-rivals members of the C.P.M, and mortally wounded with twenty-odd stab injuries. Responding to an anonymous phone call, the jurisdictional Circle Inspector of Police reached there and took him to the Government Hospital, Thalasseri, only to be declared dead by the doctor on duty. Crime No.442/2006, was registered at the Thalasseri Police Station for an offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, initially against unnamed assailants. On 03/11/2006, the investigation was handed over to the C.B.C.I.D., Kannur District. On 08/10/2007 A2 and A3 were arrested, followed by the arrest of A1 on 10/10/2007. As the investigation progressed, the accused were subjected to polygraph tests and reports obtained. In the meanwhile, Mariyu, the wife of the deceased, filed Writ petition No. 11228/2007 before this Court for handing over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging that the investigation conducted by the C.B.C.I.D. was neither sufficient nor proper. She alleges that the deceased who had gone to collect 'Thejus' newspaper of which he was the distributor, was brutally murdered in the wee hours of 22/10/2006.

(3.) The deceased who was earlier an ardent follower of the C.P.M. switched allegiance to N.D.F. Several Muslim supporters of the C.P.M., followed the deceased to join N.D.F. The deceased was also instrumental in persuading several subscribers of the C.P.M party newspaper and journals to terminate their subscription and instead, subscribe to 'Thejus', the newspaper espousing the cause of N.D.F. The aforesaid activities of the deceased, irked the C.P.M. activists and invited their wrath, and led to his brutal murder. The accused had even planted tridents (thrisuls) near the body to mislead the investigation and create an impression that the members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) were the actual perpetraters. It was alleged that the then Home Minister was from that constituency wielded considerable influence on the Police. After considering the allegations made by the wife of the deceased, pointing accusing fingers at the members of C.P.M., and the ground realities at Kannur, and that no investigation appears to have been conducted to pinpoint and confirm the identity of the accused numbers 1 to 3, as the assailants of the deceased and the recovery alleged to have been made under S.27 of the Evidence Act from an open compound adjacent to the Pankaj Talkies after months of the occurrence was found too good to be believed, this Court allowed the Writ Petition and directed the investigation to be handed over to the C.B.I., vide Ext.P2 judgement. The State of Kerala challenged Ext.P2 judgement in Writ appeal No.654/2008. A Division Bench of this Court dismissed the writ appeal and confirmed Ext.P2 Judgement vide Ext. P3 judgement.