Minister for Transport Antony Raju on Tuesday approached the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the evidence tampering case pending against him before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Nedumangad, Thiruvananthapuram.
In his petition, Mr. Raju pointed out that while acquitting the accused Australian national in a narcotic smuggling case, the High Court had suggested an inquiry in respect of the tampering with of the evidence.
The Vigilance wing of the High Court had initially conducted an investigation and, thereafter, the administrative side of the High Court directed the Thiruvananthapuram District Judge to direct the sheristar of the district court to furnish a first information statement to the police. Consequently, an FIR was registered on October 5, 1994.
The Minister contended that that the lower court took cognizance of the matter on a chargesheet by the police. In fact, the police had no authority to conduct an investigation in such cases.
He further argued that the court below ought not to have taken cognizance of the offence under Section 193 (fabrication of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code unless the complaint was filed by a court in writing. The procedure adopted by the lower court was patently illegal.
