PRADEEPAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) While a sessions trial against forteen accused was in progress and reached almost its fag end, the Sessions Judge altered the charge as he felt that the original charge contained serious errors. One of the accused rushed to this court and sought for the intervention of this Court under S. 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for Short the CodeT) on the ground, inter alia, that such alteration Thas caused serious prejudice to the accused. Petitioner prays that Sessions Judge may be directed to proceed with the original charge.

(2.) Some facts, which are necessary for the disposal of this Cr1. M.C., are the following: Petitioner and 13 others were committed to the Sessions Court in a case involving murder of one Viswanathan. The Sessions Judge before whom the case came up first framed a charge, which is an assortment of 14 counts. The charge related to a series of incidents alleged to have happened around noon on 3.8.1989 which ended up with the murder of one Viswanathan an R.S.S. Votary. In the original charge, time of the occurrence was shown as 12.30 p.m. and place of occurrence was shown Keecherikunnu and the common object of the assembly was to attack and cause injuries to some of the prosecution witnesses. In the altered charge the time of the incident was interlude between 12.30 p.m. and the common object of the members of the unlawful assembly was to attack and cause death to R.S.S. sympathisers/workers including the deceased Viswanathan. These are the noticeable alterations effected in the charge.

(3.) According to the learned counsel for the petitioner the original charge did not contain the allegation that the common object of the unlawful assembly was to attack and murder Viswanathan or that the murder took place at 1 Oclock. Such additions in the charge later framed were made without any factual foundation in the records of the case and would only cause prejudice to the accused, contended the counsel.