Kerala - Kochi   

Abhaya case: court dismisses pleas

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday upheld the order of the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court remanding two Catholic priests and a nun in the CBI custody in connection with the Sister Abhaya murder case.

Justice R. Basant upheld the order while dismissing the petitions filed by the accused against the order. The accused, Thomas Kottur, Jose Poothrikkayil and Sister Sephy complained in their petitions that the CBI’s report seeking custody of them had not disclosed the acts of the accused and the evidence so far collected against them. The CBI was legally bound to state briefly the prior history of investigation and the likelihood of further clues which the CBI expected to extract from the accused.

Dismissing the petitions, the court held there was no illegality in the order of the magistrate. The court also referred to the submission of the CBI justifying the magistrate court’s remand report. The CBI pointed out that there was an attempt to make it appear as a suicide. There were indications and material to suggest that the first accused, Fr. Thomas Kottur, was present in the convent on the day of the incident. The CBI submitted that the third accused, Sephy was residing in the ground floor of the Pius X Convent Hostel which was an inconvenient place to reside.

Nothing could have taken place there without the knowledge of the third accused. The evidence collected through scientific examination such as polygraph and brain mapping tests indicated clearly that these accused had made vital admissions. The investigation revealed that these were the best suited persons to give authentic information. They had revealed information which was crucial to the investigation of the case. There were deliberate efforts to hide the truth.

The CBI submitted that continuous interrogation might lead to breaking up their defence mechanism and extract the truth.

The possibility of even an accomplice turning approver could not be ruled out. The investigation officer had recorded that the accused appeared to have been trained in the technique of resisting the interrogation with the help of criminologists, the CBI submitted.

The court said that attempt could be made to collect further investigation. The court said there could not be rigid and straitjacket formula for keeping the accused in custody.

The facts and circumstances of the case must be taken into account while granting custody of the accused.

The court allowed the counsel for the accused to meet them between 3.30 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the presence of the investigation officers.

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