R.VIJAYAGOPAL Vs. INSPECTOR OF POLICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son : the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" - is a biblical saying. Applying it to the facts of the case, one can say "the lawyer shall not bear the sins of the client".

(2.) .The petitioner is a practising lawyer. He had gone to the Judicial Magistrate Court, Theni on 17/5/2011 to appear for the accused in Crime No. 126 of 2011 registered on the file of Veerapandi Police Station for the offence under Sec. 387 IPC. On the said date, sureties were to be furnished for the accused. When the Head Clerk perused the surety documents, she noted that the court seals affixed on the documents of the sureties namely, Mani and Muthukaruppan had been erased. She lodged complaint before the Inspector of Police, District Crime Branch, Theni. Based on the same, Crime No.32 of 2011 was registered. Mani and Muthukaruppan were shown as accused. The case was investigated and charge sheeted. Based on the confession of the accused, the petitioner was impleaded as the fourth accused. Cognizance of the offence was taken and the case was taken on file in C.C.No.99 of 2016 on the file of Judicial Magistrate, Theni. Trial was also concluded and arguments were advanced on either side. Written arguments were also filed.

(3.) .At this stage, the learned trial Magistrate came to the conclusion that the offences under Sec. 468, 415, 471 and 489 IPC were not made out. However, invoking power under Sec. 216 of Cr.P.C, charge under Sec. 465 IPC was framed afresh. The trial was also reopened. Questioning the same, and parellely seeking to quash the prosecution, this Criminal Original Petition has been filed.