C.K.SHERIN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner challenges an order rejecting her application under Sec. 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short ' Cr.P.C' ) refusing to grant interim custody of gold ornaments.

(2.) The petitioner complained that between 1/1/2019 and 9/2/2019, the accused, who was her servant, had stolen her gold ornaments. On the basis of the said complaint, a crime was registered as F.I.R. No.263/2019 of Elamakkara Police Station. During the course of the investigation, the police seized gold ingots and a gold nugget, which were entered as T No.81/19 and were produced before the court. Subsequently, an application was filed, seeking interim custody of the gold recovered pursuant to the petitioner's complaint.

(3.) By the impugned order, the learned Magistrate dismissed the application for interim custody, stating that the prosecution case was that a gold chain weighing 6.3 gms, a gold locket and a diamond ring apart from a diamond locket was stolen by the accused and that there is no document to show that petitioner is the owner of the articles recovered. The learned Magistrate also observed that what was seized by the police was an oval-shaped gold plate weighing 900 mg and a small ball-shaped gold having a weight of 1 gm and one gold nugget having a weight of 4.4 gm which are in the form of gold ingots and not ornaments. It was held that no purpose would be served by granting interim custody since the petitioner will not be able to convert the gold ingots into ornaments until the trial is over.