N SAMPATH Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed by the de facto complainant in Cr. No. 2 of 2009 registered on the file of District Crime Branch, Cuddalore praying for an order directing the Superintendent of Police, Cuddalore, Cuddalore District (the second respondent' herein) to withdraw the entire case diary in the above said case from the Inspector of Police, District Crime Branch, Cuddalore (first respondent) and hand over the same to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBCID, Cuddalore for proper and further investigation of the case.

(2.) The facts leading to the filing of the present petition are as follows: The petitioner herein is running a lorry broker office and he used to buy and sell used lorries and arrange finance for them. One Subramanian of Koothappankudikadu in Thittakudi Taluk was also engaged in the very same business. Due to some misunderstanding, the relationship between the petitioner and the said Subramanian got strained pursuant to which the said Subramanian preferred a complaint on the file of Thittakudi police station alleging theft of his lorry. Purporting to act in furtherance of the investigation of the said case, the petitioner herein was taken by one Chinnadurai, the then Sub-Inspector of police, Thittakudi to the said police station on 23.11.2008 at about 22. hours. He had also seized two lorries bearing Regn. Nos. TN-72 R-5972 and TN-28 AC-5024 sold by the petitioner to Sivakumar of Potthiramangalam and Dhandapani of Thittakudi respectively. The said Sub-Inspector of police again took the petitioner to Namakkal on 25.11.2008 and brought him back to the Thittakudi Taluk police station along with two other lorries bearing Regn. Nos. TN-46 C-1002 and TN-28 AD-4685, which had been sold by the petitioner to Shanmugam and Sakthivel respectively. The said lorries had been previously owned by one Selvaraj. The above said lorries seized by the Sub-Inspector of police were later on parked in front of the house of the above mentioned Subramanian, who gave the complaint alleging theft of his lorry.

(3.) Under such circumstances, the petitioner preferred a complaint to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Villupuram naming 1) Thiru. Kanniappan, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police, Thittakudi, 2) Thiru. Kumarabalan, the then Inspector of Police, Thittakudi Police Station and 3) Thiru. Chinnadurai, the then Sub-Inspector of Police, Thittakudi police station as the named accused, alleging demand and receipt of bribe and misuse of their official capacity, besides other offences. Pursuant to a direction issued by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, a case was registered on the file of District Crime Branch, Cuddalore against the seven persons in Cr. No. 2 of 2009 for the alleged offences punishable under Sections 323, 220, 388,347,465,467,468,471 and 420 IPC. The said case was registered on 26.1.2009 and the persons arraigned as accused in the said case were as follows: